Facade
by aboz567
Summary: After losing everything, Ash Ketchum is forced into a life of isolation, forced to change who he is. Having kept up this facade for over 10 years, Ash never expected things to change so drastically in such a short time. With people growing curious and the darkness from his past returning, Ash will have to be as strong as possible to keep everyone safe. AU Advance/Amour/Cavalier
1. Past Experiences

****A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to my newest story, "Facade." It's my first ever AU fic, beginning in a school setting and ending up...well... I don't want to ruin the surprise. Anyway, I've been excited about this story for a long time, especially since the latter half will take a darker turn. It will definitely be intense, that's for sure.****

 ** **BIG NOTE: This was the first story I ever wrote (though it was an original story at first, not pokemon) and thus, my writing style and the subject matter/characters may not be up to par with what my writing is now (though I still believe the concept of the story is good). There**** ** _ _ **will**__** ** **be a few certain cliches and some characters may show "sue" like qualities at the beginning of the story (will be more fleshed out and flawed later on). This is all because the first 50,000 words of this story were written over a year ago when I had very little knowledge about story telling and writing. The reason I'm keeping most of the story true to how it was originally written is because I will always be proud of the first major story I started writing. While Ash/Gary/etc. may seem like "sue" characters in this chapter, I will do my best to make them deeper, more morally flawed characters in the future. These themes will be explored once the story gets past the School Arc. Anyway, if characters that exert some sue qualities aren't your thing, then this story probably isn't going to be for you. But if you can tolerate it or even like it, then please read on.****

 ** **Death and dark themes will**** ** _ _ **definitely**__** ** _ **be**_** ** **explored in this story, so keep that in mind while reading.****

 ** **Characters will also be OOC (Out of Character) in the story**** **.**

 ** **Enjoy!****

* * *

 **EXTENDED SUMMARY: Ash Ketchum. A boy hated by his peers. A loser. Ash Ketchum. A boy who'd lost everything. A boy who was forced to mask who he truly was. A selfless man, willing to sacrifice who he is for people that don't care about him in the slightest. Both were the same person, but the world only saw one... After an incident that ripped everything he held dear from his life, Ash Ketchum was forever forced to change who he was, to become a master of keeping up a facade. With only a select few knowing who he truly is, Ash is forced to live a life of isolation. But as things begin to change and people become curious, the darkest part of his past makes a return; his greatest nightmare come true.**

 **Ash Ketchum...a man who will do anything to protect those around him.**

 **Anything.**

* * *

 **Ash: 18**

 **Gary: 18**

 **Paul: 18**

 **Kenny: 18**

 **Barry: 17**

 **May: 18**

 **Dawn: 18**

 **Misty: 18**

* * *

 _"_ _ _Stand for what is right. Even if it means standing alone." - Unknown__

* * *

Facade

 _ _'Why?'__

It was a question he'd been asking himself more and more these days.

Why did it happen to him?

Was it because some higher power thought he could handle it?

Did someone want his life to be as difficult as possible?

Was this all just some sort of sick test? A joke, maybe?

No matter how many times he asked himself these questions, he never got any closer to an answer. Because of this, he never allowed himself to dwell on it for long. This was the hand life had dealt him and he'd accepted that, as long and as painful as it was to do so.

Alone after just 8 years on this earth. No parents, no relatives, no friends...

...nothing.

He learned from an early age that being angry wouldn't solve his problems, it would only succeed in hurting others. Bringing people down with him was something he would not allow himself to do. He would not let anyone else feel the pain and fear that he lived with on a daily basis.

This was his life, it had been for a long time. The only things he had left of his past self were a few pictures and his name, which was one of the few things he had left from his parents...

Ash Ketchum.

Ash Ketchum, a man who had a near endless list of reasons to be bitter, to hate the world...and yet...

...he didn't.

Although he'd slowly become somewhat accustom to the life he had to live, it did make things a lot harder. Everything, really.

Ash had been fairly lucky in the sense that his life in the foster care system had been much more consistent than most. It's not too hard when no one wanted to adopt you.

Ash had been rooted in the same group home that he had bee placed in when he was first orphaned all those years ago. The home he resided in was in the town of Pallet, and the school he attended just north of where he lived in Viridian City.

Now a senior in high school, things had become even harder. Many say that the years spent in high school are some of the best. For others, it's a time of great stress, sadness and hatred. But even those people had it better than Ash.

Because high school was filled to the brim with the one thing he had to avoid.

People.

Ash was the definition of a loner, his 'personality' thwarting any hope of finding someone who cared for him. He would never allow anyone to become a friend, a partner...

...family.

Certain circumstances made it this way. It was these __circumstances__ that quickly made him realize that he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he allowed the selfish desires in his mind take over. Though as the days continued to pass, the urge constantly grew stronger.

Even before any of this happened, his parents were the only family he had, and the only family he needed. In his young mind, he completely believed this to be true. But that truth was shattered horribly fast.

And by the time he learned of the real truth, it was already too late...

 _*..._ ** _ _Beep__** _…*_

 _*..._ ** _ _Beep__** _…*_

Ash sat up quickly in his bed, sweating and breathing heavily, only relaxing once he took in his surroundings. He wasted little time in slamming the snooze button on the alarm clock stationed next to his bed.

Ash was more than happy to wake up from his slumber, finally being able to escape the horrible nightmares of his past that often plagued his dreams.

Though, he didn't particularly enjoy his waking life all that much either, especially on this day in particular.

His birthday.

His _18_ _th_ birthday.

Ash couldn't care less that today was supposed to be special. To Ash, everyday was the same, the occasion hardly mattered. There would be no cake, no celebration. Nothing. What was the point? A birthday was really nothing more than another tick mark of your existence.

Ultimately, it would be just another day of facing the world almost entirely alone.

"Happy birthday to me..." Ash muttered sarcastically to himself while rubbing the sleep out his eyes. He then climbed slowly out of bed, careful not to disturb the small yellow creature sleeping at the foot of his bed.

Ash then proceeded to trudge over to his closet. It didn't take him long to pick an outfit; Ash was never one to particularly care about 'fashion sense', which granted him this luxury.

Having this part of his morning routine completed, Ash lumbered to the bathroom to shower and prepare for the day.

Ash entered the bathroom and moved to the sink to brush his teeth. While doing so, he glanced at himself in the mirror. He was quite the imposing figure, standing at about 6' 4" and weighing somewhere around 225 pounds. His body was well toned and muscular, without being overly so. This was achieved by years of gruelingly painful training and exercise.

From a young age, Ash found exercise to be a good way to let out bottled up emotions, something he had plenty of. That, and he simply just enjoyed teaching himself new things.

Despite his commanding appearance, his youthful, but sturdy face and medium length, messy black hair made Ash seem softer and more approachable.

He truly had all the makings to be one of the popular kids. Tall, handsome, athletic. In all honesty, he should've ruled the school. But because of his personality, his attitude, any hope of that becoming a reality was thwarted before it could even begin.

Ash sighed as he glanced over the few light scars that lined his torso. Most had come from random incidents while training. Others however, had accumulated from various dangerous situations that he always seemed to find himself in.

Though, as cliché as it may sound, there was no way the marks and scars on his body could compare to the scars on his heart, and these physical marks only served to remind him of such.

Of course, one day always stuck out in his mind above the rest. The day everything was taken from him. The events of that day affected him more than anything else in his life, hurting him deeper than anyone could ever see. That day changed Ash, and even he knew it was for the worse.

Finally having washed up and making himself appear at least semi-presentable, Ash was ready to leave. He walked slowly out of his home with a backpack slung over his broad shoulders. Waiting for him outside, as always, was his best and only friend, Gary Oak.

Gary was the only person who'd ever truly gotten to know Ash...The only one who'd ever stuck around long enough to be able to do so.

Gary and Ash shared a few similar features. The both had similar hair styles, though Gary's hair was brown in color and spikier on the top. Their builds were somewhat similar as well, with Gary being just slightly thinner, though still packing muscle.

Despite this, their differences outweighed the similarities. Gary's face was the slightest bit softer and just had a different structure than Ash's. Although they did look the slightest bit similar, no one would accuse them of being related.

One difference between the two was Gary's extremely dark brown eyes, where as Ash's were a very light brown, almost hazel color. The biggest difference, however, was that he wasn't as tall or as strong as Ash. That being said, he was still by no definition a slouch.

Although Ash would never openly admit it, Gary was the only person that kept him sane in this existence he was forced into. He was usually much more upbeat than Ash, which rubbed off on him a great deal. The two seemed to even each other out perfectly.

The two'd met in the 8th grade. Though the circumstances in which they met were all but normal, their friendship developed excellently. In all honesty, the way Ash acted when Gary first introduced himself should have diluted the idea of him wanting to become his friend immediately. But for some reason, it didn't. And Ash was more than thankful for that.

"What's up Ash? Pumped up and ready to go? School's awaitin'!" said Gary, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Of course, Gary! You know me so well." Ash responded with sarcasm of his own.

"Oh, and by the way... happy birthday." Gary said nonchalantly, acting as if he'd only just remembered. His tone was betrayed by the action of him revealing a small gift from behind his back.

Ash let his eyes fall on the gift being presented to him before looking back to Gary with uncertainty, "Come on Gary, you know I'm not much of a birthday person..."

Gary sighed before responding; he'd been expecting Ash to say something like this.

"Listen, I know that there's more than just one anniversary today...I know it's not fair that it happened, and on your birthday no less. But getting your mind off of it is exactly what you need right now, so just open your gift." Gary said, his voice firm.

Ash looked down in sadness as he was reminded of the traumatic event, but didn't shed a tear. In fact, the last time he'd cried was on that day all those years ago. The day his whole life changed.

Quickly regaining his composure, Ash looked back at Gary.

"Come on, Ash. It took me forever to find this. Just take it. Please." Gary pleaded.

"Fine." Ash sighed, sounding defeated as he took the gift from Gary.

Ash unwrapped the paper, only to find a picture encased within a cheap frame. He immediately proceeded to scan over the photograph.

The gift turned out to be a picture of Gary and Ash standing together, both sharing equally big smiles. What made this picture even more special, Ash recalled, was that it was taken the day that the two _truly_ became friends. With that being said, this picture was actually taken months after the two had first met, Ash remembered. The raven haired man instantly recognized the deep meaning this photo held.

"You have no idea how hard it was to find that picture. I haven't seen it in years... I wanted to give this to you to remind you that you're never alone. Even when you feel like it on days such as today, I always got your back." Gary finished, reassuring his friend after sensing his uneasiness.

Today was a very hard day for Ash, and Gary knew that all too well. He wanted to do everything he could to help his best friend get through this, even if that meant getting sappy and sentimental for a while.

Gary's words did not surprise Ash in the slightest. Ever since the day the two had met, it seemed Gary always knew what he was thinking; he could read him like a book, and vice versa.

Ash looked at the picture again as a small smile crossed his face. It felt good knowing that even in a world where he was forced to be alone, there was still someone that he could count on. Ash liked to savor moments such as these, as this was one of the only times he felt true happiness anymore.

After running the picture back inside his 'home' and placing it delicately on the desk in his room, the two boys began their trek to school.

The two'd made sufficient progress, having walked for 5 minutes already. Walking side by side, the two boys turned a familiar corner, the corner where Pallet Town ends and Viridian City begins. Their progress was halted, however, when something impacted Ash's midsection. It didn't take a genius to realize that a person was on the other end of the attack.

As Ash staggered back from the punch while Gary went on the defensive, looking to see who had done this to his best friend. Though, even before he laid eyes on the assailant, he knew who it was...

His thoughts were confirmed as he looked up to see an all too familiar man, standing with an immense amount of cockiness plastered on his face in front of two others, all three with devilish smirks adorning their faces. Seeing the three men he despised the most, a scowl formed on Gary's face.

Ash did his best to recover from the punch to his stomach, muttering a name out of his mouth as he struggled to regain his breath,

"Paul." Ash said darkly

"What's up Ketchump!" Paul said with a laugh and a malicious smirk. "Looks like you're a little winded there. You better catch your breath, because we're just getting started!"

As Gary glared at the three men opposing him, Ash's mind wandered to when this all first began; it'd been a while since he'd thought about it. As much as it sucked to say, interactions such as this were commonplace, and had been since the sixth grade when Paul first transferred to the Viridian school system.

* * *

 _ _Flashback__

As the new kid in school, Paul was very shy and standoffish, keeping to himself most of the time. In the first few months of the school year, Ash couldn't remember him saying more than two words to anyone, even the teachers. Another strange thing he noticed about the boy was that he almost exclusively wore long sleeve shirts. This wouldn't have been odd if the temperature was cooler, but for months it sat above 80 degrees fahrenheit, or 26.7 celsius.

When he first noticed this anomaly, he nearly shrugged it off, crediting it to personal preference. But Ash had always been extremely perceptive, and he discovered the real truth with the occasional small glimpses of Paul's arms that he got. After a while, it wasn't difficult for Ash to realize why he dressed the way he did...

What he was trying to hide.

With everything he'd been through, Ash'd was forced to mature quickly, much quicker than other kids. He was forced to learn things no person his age should have to. It was this that allowed him to pick up the hints immediately, to piece it all together. They were there too often for it to have been just random occurrences. Not only that, but sometimes, they were intense. Dark.

The bruises, that is.

Never being one to jump to conclusions, he tried to convince himself that these marks could've been caused by a number of things. But Ash knew better. He knew it could only be one thing.

Paul was being abused.

At first, Ash became furious over the revelation. How could no one else have noticed this? Teachers were supposed to help protect students, right? Then why weren't they helping Paul?

Though, he realized quickly that he couldn't really blame them. Paul hid the bruising well and if it hadn't been for Ash's keen eye, it was likely no one would have ever found out.

Ash had often times thought of going to a teacher with this information, but ultimately never did, thinking that despite how horrible it was, it wasn't his place to share something like this. Not until he got Paul's consent.

Watching as no help seemed to come for the boy, all Ash could do was view him from afar with compassion and concern.

No matter how Ash seemed on the outside, on the inside he fit the dictionary definition of a good person. Caring, sweet, loyal, these were all words that would describe who Ash truly was; the person the waking world never saw.

Seeing a kid going through something like this crushed Ash inside. He knew the consequences of what he was planning on doing, even at just age twelve, but in a lapse of judgment, he decided he needed to at least __try__ _t_ o help. That he couldn't sit idly by any longer.

"Hi, you're Paul, right?" asked Ash, having approached the purple haired boy in the corner of the room.

"Yeah, what's it to you?!" Paul hissed back. Ash was taken aback by his tone. He couldn't think of any reason Paul wouldn't like him, so his aggressive response stunned him momentarily.

Based on this alone, Ash assumed that Paul must use anger to deal with whatever personal tragedies came his way, a common coping method for many. But no matter how often this road was taken, it was something Ash refused to do, even if it might've appeared to be otherwise to those who didn't know him.

Despite the shock caused by the initial outburst, Ash continued, not wanting to waste any time.

"I-I noticed the bruises on your arms." Ash pointed to the boy's arms, which he didn't have to see to know were black and blue. Subconsciously, Paul pulled his sleeves down as far as they could go, "I think I know what you've been going through and I just thought I would let you know that you aren't the only one that lives in fear. You aren't alone, even if you feel that way. You can get help for this."

Ash made sure to speak as calmly and sincerely as he could. Paul didn't respond immediately, leaving Ash waiting patiently for a reply. However, the response he so eagerly awaited never came. The only thing that did come was a fist that met his face with great force.

Ash collapsed into a heap on the ground, his head flying down and his hands flying to his right cheek where he'd just been struck. What Paul couldn't see with his head down was the look of complete and utter shock on Ash's face.

Sure, even then he was a nobody, a loser disliked by most everyone, but no one had ever hit him before.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME OR WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH SO WHY DON'T YOU BACK OFF AND MIND YOR OWN BUSINESS. I AIN'T SCARED OF NOTHING!" Paul screamed, his face showing nothing but intense fury. At this point, the other kids in the classroom were all looking their way, as well as the teacher.

After the punch, Ash momentarily thought about hitting Paul back, the shock and anger of what'd happened having claimed him for a moment. And he was confident that he could have easily gotten up and beaten Paul in a fight.

But despite that, he did no such thing.

Instead, Ash regained his footing slowly, looking at Paul with nothing understanding in his eyes. He then walked away as if nothing happened, never once looking back.

Despite what'd happened that day or any subsequent day that followed, not once had Ash felt the desire to tell anyone of Paul's secret out of revenge. No matter how much he disagreed with them, he understood his actions.

Over the years, despite his troubles at home, Paul was able to meet people that shared a similar personality to himself. Two boys, Barry and Kenny, ended up becoming his best friends. These two managed to get the boy to open up, though never about his past, and he quickly became more outgoing and almost universally liked by most. Well, everyone he didn't consider a loser.

Unlucky for Ash however, Paul's two new friends seemed to share the same passion for inflicting pain as Paul did. Since they'd become friends, the three men made sure that Ash's life was even more miserable than it already was.

Something, they didn't know was impossible. Because at this point...

...there was almost no way anyone could make it worse...

 _ _End Flashback__

* * *

Now, Ash sat on the ground next to a fuming Gary, an all too familiar scene to everyone involved.

Since he'd first met them, Gary had always held a deep seeded hatred for these three. When Ash and Gary became friends, he'd also unknowingly signed on to being harassed by these three boys.

Gary had always desired to fight back, having confidence that this would end this senseless harassment for good. And despite the fact that it would be a three on two matchup, both Gary and Ash were confident that even despite this, they would come out on top.

This confidence stemmed from Ash's intense training regimens. Despite having started with no knowledge of anything related to fitness or sport, Ash eventually managed to teach himself many different things with the help of books, internet videos, and many, _many_ hours of practice.

Kick boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jujitsu, bits and pieces of Tai Kwan do, and his favorite activity, Kendo were all various arts he partook in. Both boys found a thrill in teaching themselves these things, their only teachers being whatever books they could find on the subjects. They definitely were not the best in the world at any of them but considering everything they knew was self taught, their level of skill was very impressive.

Years after the two boys had become friends, Ash allowed Gary to join him in his training. He was hesitant at first, knowing his routine was intense. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say it would give a professional athlete a decent challenge.

But after seeing the fire in his eyes, Ash knew that his best friend would be able to handle it. That moment had taken place nearly four years ago and at this point, the two were definitely skilled in what would almost certainly be considered mixed martial arts.

Another contributing factor was the fact that Gary and Ash were both larger and stronger than any of the three offenders. But that hardly seemed to matter to the three assailants.

After all, the two had never retaliated.

The only thing stopping Gary from attacking was the knowledge of how Ash would react if he did as such.

Whenever Gary proposed the idea of fighting back, Ash would always refuse. And despite his many inquiries as to why he wouldn't fight, he could never get a clear answer out of his closest and only friend.

While Gary was overflowing with desire to attack the three men in front of him, Ash remained seated on the ground, glaring at the three men in front of him.

Barry and Kenny were brothers, and that showed through their similar facial structure and slim builds. Kenny was the older of the two, but not by much; less than a year separated the two boys. In fact, it was a such a minuscule time difference that their parents found it okay to put Barry in the same grade as his brother, rather than being in the class below him. Kenny had scruffy brunette hair, a pale complexion and cold brown eyes.

Barry, although looking somewhat similar to his brother, also had his differences. For one, Barry was taller than his brother by about an inch, making him somewhere around 5' 11". His hair was also much longer than his brother's, his bangs falling just above his eyebrows when he didn't style his hair into the usual messy up-du he had now. The key difference however, was his eyes.

And it wasn't just Barry's orange-brown eyes that made the difference. They seemed almost...softer, slightly more welcoming than the cold glare that Kenny's seemed to hold. Though, that look was betrayed by his actions on almost every occasions.

Paul though...Paul was different.

He stood about 6'0" and had long, purple hair which went along well with his extremely dark brown eyes. He was also in much better shape than his two friends, his inclination for sports being the reason.

Ash and Paul locked eyes for a moment, staring silently at each other for just a few seconds. Paul was shooting daggers at Ash, but the boy never backed down.

"Why don't you jut leave us alone!? We have never done anything to you and yet, you still torment us! Why?!" Screamed Gary who looked as if he was about to rush Paul at any second. Ash noticed this and quickly got up, positioning himself between the two men.

"Why?" Paul laughed. Then, in the blink of an eye, he turned deadly serious, "WHY?! ...Because it's a good way to relieve stress." Paul finished in a disturbingly calm tone with a sadistic smirk adorning his lips.

Hoping Gary would continue to control himself, Ash proceeded over to Paul, standing over him and allowing the man to finish what he knew he'd come here to do. Gary simply watched in disbelief, even though his friend had done this very same thing many times before.

"At least you're not a total pussy like your friend over here." Paul smirked as he gestured to Gary.

"You better watch it, Paul." Gary said seriously, the implication of his words causing Barry and Kenny to rush over to him and grab his arms. Gary didn't struggle, remembering what Ash always told him to do. Instead, he just watched as his friend began to speak.

"Just do it." Ash said calmly. As he raised his chin to allow Paul to perform the final blow.

Paul smirked before he reared his fist back and plunged it into Ash's jaw. His chin busted open, blood slowly leaking from the small wound. Ash stumbled back before eventually falling to the ground, his facial expression only shifting to that of someone in pain for a moment before returning to its normal stoic expression. He knew how to take a punch and mask any pain he felt; he had quite a bit of practice in that department.

Paul shook out the pain in his hand and laughed along with the two brothers, one of whom had just delivered a swift knee to Gary's abdomen, causing the boy to tumble over, unable to breathe.

Paul laughed again. However, seemingly out of nowhere, his expression changed to one of great darkness, "Pathetic..." he muttered before walking away with the brothers following close behind, still laughing their heads off.

Ash wiped the blood off of his chin from the small cut before standing up and helping Gary back to his feet. Instead of a word of thanks for the help, all Ash received was an angry stare.

"Why can't we just kick their asses, just once! If we do, they will lay off of us forever! They won't have a choice! Just one time, that's all it will take! You know I'm right!" Gary begged but as he suspected, Ash just shook his head.

"No, Gary. I've told you a million times before, that's not the type of people we want to be. I only fight when I absolutely need to and the same should apply to you." Ash said firmly.

"And you're saying that this isn't a situation where we need to fight? That Paul and his merry band of idiots don't deserve it?" barked Gary, still steaming from the incident.

"Yeah, that is what I'm saying." Ash said seriously, sounding determined to drill this into Gary's mind., "There's too much bad in this world, Gary. There has to be some good to even it out. Even if it's something as simple as not fighting back against a troubled kid."

Gary's thoughts momentarily shifted as he heard Ash mention the balance of good and evil.

"You're talking about _him_ again, aren't you." Gary asked, all anger suddenly leaving his body, instead being replaced by the feeling of concern.

Ash didn't respond verbally, but the sigh and the dejected look on his face told Gary all he needed to know.

Deciding to stray away from the sensitive topic, Gary spoke about something Ash'd said that didn't seem right to him, "Wait a minute, did you just say that Paul is troubled?! Him and his little clique are the most popular kids in school! How is he 'troubled'?"

Breaking form his thoughts, Ash responded, "You just have to trust me on this, Gary. Fighting back isn't the right thing to do in this situation. Now... I'd rather not talk about Paul anymore."

It was hard to find a retort for what Ash had just said. Gary always had total trust in his friend; it seemed that he always had everything figured out, even when they both knew that was untrue.

Although his grades don't show it, Ash was one of the smartest people that Gary had ever known. Ash was extremely wise for a person of just 18. Sadly however, great wisdom typically came with a price; a saying that was definitely true in Ash's case as most of this knowledge had come from traumatic experiences in his life.

Allowing what Ash said to resonate in his mind, Gary replied with a simple nod of his head.

Gary's words, however, rang true to Ash as well. Paul was no longer the troubled boy he'd met in the sixth grade. In the seventh grade, his abusive father was killed by alcohol poisoning, freeing Paul and his mother from his reign of terror. This was something, despite the morbidity of it, Ash was extremely grateful for.

Paul's mother wasted little time in remarrying as not two years later, she wed a successful small business owner. After all of these events transpired, Paul's life changed for the better. He became a lot more social and made many more friends with all of the jocks and popular girls in the school.

His hatred for his biological father still lingered, however, and reared its ugly head whenever he would see Ash and Gary. For some reason, they just brought out the demon inside of him. Because of this, they became something like his personal punching bags. And despite the pain it caused them, they let this be, all to allow him to let out his frustration.

That's not to say that they hadn't tried to reason with the man. When the harassment first started, Ash let Paul know that he needed a better way to let out his anger, that he couldn't just go around beating people up just to placate himself. Paul only laughed and said, _"This method seems to work pretty well for me! And why fix what's not broken?"_

Ash knew at that point that even if he'd somehow gotten Paul to stop abusing himself and Gary, he would just find someone else to take their place. And no matter how awful it was for him, he wasn't going to allow that to happen.

It wouldn't be a far cry to say Ash knew Paul better than he knew himself. Having been that kid struggling to deal with life himself, it really wasn't that difficult; anyone that actually took the time to look would probably see it too.

To Ash, it was plain to see that Paul was still broken on the inside and hid behind a cheap facade. Despite all the pain and suffering he caused him, Ash couldn't help but feel sorry for the young man. He knew all to well what it was like having to go through life as someone different than who they really were.

"Let's just get to school before we're late." Ash said, shaking out of his thoughts as he checked his phone to find the time. He momentarily wondered to himself why he even had a phone in the first place. After all, he really had only one person to call, and he saw that person everyday. He shrugged it off before looking at the time, finding it to be 7:55.

The two were still a good mile from the school, and classes began at 8 o clock. With no time to waste, Ash tapped Gary's shoulder, telling him that they had to hurry, and took off running as they desperately tried to make it to school on time.

Their homeroom teacher, Mrs. Kilnes, absolutely hated tardiness and what made things worse was the fact that she already hated Ash and Gary.

The two kept to themselves in school, not that they had much of a choice since they had no other friends. The two teens were both fairly smart, but didn't work hard in school. In fact, it wasn't rare to find them sleeping in their classes throughout the school day.

They only tried their hardest when they deemed what was being taught to be necessary information and didn't give much effort on anything else. It seemed to everyone that they were the perfect definition of the word 'slackers.'

What made the teachers despise them, however, was the fact that despite the fact that they almost never put forth any effort, they'd never actually __failed__ anything. Their test grades were fairly good, proving that they actually did have capable minds, though, their overall grades didn't necessarily show it. C's and D's were common final course grades for both boys, with maybe a B every now and then. Without doing anything except the tests, it was quite literally the best they could do.

But whether they tried in school or not, they hated being late.

"Come on Gary, if we're late Mrs. Kilnes is going to give us another detention and I am really starting to get sick of those things!" Exclaimed Ash, whom was breathing heavily, as Gary trailed behind his faster friend.

"I'm...trying...but...can't...breathe." Gary wheezed. He was definitely panting harder than his companion. Gary made a mental note to start doing more cardio.

They had already sprinted at least a mile when they reached the front of Viridian High School. Ash quickly swung open the doors and dashed toward Mrs. Kilne's room. Gary was still trailing behind Ash, even further now that he was dead tired. Normally running this far wouldn't have left him in a state quite this bad, but he was still recovering from a rather hard workout the day before.

Despite his exhaustion, Gary was happy he would be able to get some sleep during whatever pointless lecture Mrs. Kilnes had planned for the day.

Ash finally arrived at the door, almost completely out of breathe as he reached for the handle. Much to his dismay, the handle didn't budge when he pushed on it.

"Damn it..." Ash mumbled to himself, doing his best to catch his breath as he glanced at the clock in the hallway to see it was now 8:01. Although he was proud pf both himself and Gary for running a mile in just about six minutes, they were now officially late. Ash sighed, then knocked on the door as Gary finally arrived beside him.

"Finally...we're...here." Gary said, gasping for breath.

The sound of heels tapping on the tile floor echoed from inside the room then slowly, the door began to open from the inside. In the freshly opened doorway, stood a very miffed Mrs. Kilnes.

"Boys, you're late! Detention for both of you, after school today!" Mrs. Kilnes shouted at them.

"Yeah yeah, we know..." Ash said under his breath, having recovered slightly, while walking to his seat in the back corner of the room. Gary followed behind, trudging to his seat near the front, still attempting to regain his breath.

Ash took a few more deep breaths before returning to relative normalcy. As he sat down, he mentally prepared himself for the day. Internally, he flipped the switch that would put him in what he liked to call 'school mode.'

Ash's demeanor in school, in public, was completely different than when he was with Gary alone. At school, he was almost always silent. He never had a question or an answer and he kept to himself for nearly the entirety of every school day. If someone would try to talk to him, besides Gary, he would either do his best to ignore the person or, for the more persistent ones, be a complete and utter jerk to them. As a result of his actions, he'd built up a pretty negative reputation throughout the school...

...which was exactly what he hoped to do.

Only Gary knew the reason that Ash acted the way he did when in actuality, he was completely different on the inside; it was the same for him after all. The only time he would ever speak was at lunch, as that and homeroom were the only two classes the two friends had together. And even at lunch, Ash kept his conversations concise and quiet.

Ash didn't mind homeroom, however, even despite the fact that he was on the complete other side of the room from Gary, and the fact that he had Mrs. Kilnes as a teacher. What made the class somewhat bearable the person that sat next to Ash. Well, next to and one seat ahead of him.

She was a breathtakingly beautiful brunette girl with long, silky hair that formed somewhat of an upside down V shape, sparkling blue eyes, and a beautiful face as well. She was tall for a girl, about 5' 9".

Despite her height, she was no beanpole; she had an extremely attractive natural hourglass figure that had boys constantly ogling at her. It was easy to tell that she didn't particularly like all the attention, but she was much too nice to say anything to those brazen enough to stare.

She dressed like your average teenage girl, as shown by the clothing choice of the day, a simple red tee shirt with jeans that hugged every curve she had. The only thing different about her was her affinity for bandanas; a red one was sitting atop her head at this very moment.

The most beautiful thing about her, however, was her bright, vibrant smile. It just seemed to light up any room she entered, fitting perfectly with the month she was named after.

May.

Ash had the wherewithal to not blatantly stare at May, but he would more than occasionally steal glances at her. Normally, he wouldn't look twice at most other girls in the school as this only really served to depress him as he knew he could never be in a relationship.

But May was special somehow.

On top of being drop dead gorgeous, she was the only person besides Gary that had ever helped him without some sort of ultimatum. From what he could tell, she was just a genuinely good person.

May was incredibly popular. Of course, being an attractive girl in high school puts you on the fast track to popularity, but even besides her looks, it was obvious she had a very likable personality as well.

Ash could see why she was so well liked. The only thing that he disliked about May was the fact that she was in the same 'friend group' as Paul and his goons.

Although it appeared to the public that May and Paul were at least somewhat decent friends, if one looked close enough, it was easy to tell that they didn't get along with each other at all. Ash would often see them bickering when they were together and when their group would be walking down the halls, May seemed to stick closer to the others in the group, anybody but Paul.

In actuality, the two hardly interacted, even despite being in the same friend group. It was quite clear that May didn't actually like Paul very much, which begged the question: why would she hang out with them then?

If that wasn't enough evidence of her dislike toward the purple haired boy, she'd actually __saved__ Ash from Paul once. It wasn't much, but sometime about a year ago, she'd stopped Paul from pulling a prank on him, something he still remembered vividly.

* * *

 _ _Flashback__

A small trebuchet sat next to the table currently housing Paul and his friends. While this would normally be odd, the fact that Kenny was bringing it home from his shop class removed any and all suspicion.

Paul, Barry, and Kenny were currently filling the launcher to the brim with ketchup and mustard, as well as other solid foods to be used as projectiles. The target of the onslaught was, of course, Ash. They silently hoped the splatter would reach Gary as well.

Paul and his friends were obviously trying to be subtle. They set up the trebuchet so that when launched, most of the condiments would land on their target. They thought they were being sneaky, well, as sneaky as you can be with a three foot catapult, but in reality, they were not.

Ash was well aware of what Paul was doing, he usually was. He simply would glance over as to discreetly watch his tormentors set up the prank.

"Aren't you gonna move or something? You know what they're trying to do." Gary whispered to Ash as he slid over slightly to avoid what was to come. He was also typically wise as to what Paul and his buddies were trying to do.

Ash looked to Gary but didn't answer. He knew what was coming, but he decided to just let it happen. Most of the time, he would do his best to avoid pranks like this but today, he saw a possible benefit of allowing the prank to happen.

If his current ratty clothes were ruined, the school would be forced to give him some to finish out the day in. And he was hoping that he would be able to keep these clothes afterward, adding them to his small collection.

While Gary would give him old T-shirts, only a few fit as Ash had a larger build than his friend. Because of this and his lack of spending money, his wardrobe was more than limited.

And so, Ash waited until the condiments would hit him...

…

…

...but they never did.

Ash was extremely confused by this. Deciding he was curious enough to want to know what'd happened, he followed his friend's gaze, which was already on the scene.

There, about 100 feet from his own table stood May, yelling at Paul. It wasn't hard for not only Ash and Gary, but the whole cafeteria to hear, as it seemed May was screaming near the top of her lungs.

"Paul, what do you think you are doing!?" May screamed. "What has he ever done to you! It's not right to just pick on someone for no reason!"

Paul looked to be extremely surprised. He knew May didn't like it when he pranked Ash or Gary, and she absolutely hated it when she would hear about them actually hurting them, but she'd never reacted like this before. Although she rarely saw it happen, the years of hearing her friends talk about messing with these two boys finally must have snapped something within her.

As the yelling continued, Ash turned back to face his own table and lowered his head, his hair covering his eyes, leaving his facial expression a mystery to his best friend. He then looked up slightly, allowing Gary to see the smile on the man's face, instantly creating one on his as well.

Ash couldn't help it. No one, not even teachers, had ever stood up for him before. Even if it'd just been the principle of the thing that May didn't like and not actually to protect him specifically, it still made Ash feel good.

He felt good because this was evidence...evidence that even in a world shrouded in darkness...

There was still light.

* * *

 _ _Still in Flashback__

What surprised Ash and Gary most was not Paul backing down from his prank, nor was it the look of fear which overcame Barry and Kenny' faces at May's near motherly scolding. But instead, it was May walking over to their table after she'd finished her rant, a genuine, friendly smile on her face.

She tried her best to look friendly, but Gary was still skeptical. She seemed genuine and kind, but how could a person with those qualities even associate themselves with Paul? Even with Gary's apprehension, Ash's defenses were slowly crumbling.

"Hi! I don't think we've ever officially met. My name is May!" She said with a huge grin, extending her hand toward Ash. The young man looked toward the outstretched hand, his mind a jumbled mess. He'd had moments of weakness in the past, but this one was definitely the worst its ever been

Ash was moments away from reaching out and shaking, but out of sheer willpower, he forced himself not to. He knew that he shouldn't.

No.

He couldn't.

He couldn't let her become any closer to him than she was at that moment. It was for her own good.

Ash quickly erased the small smile that had unconsciously formed from his face and retracted his hand from the air, leaving May's floating alone. Gary witnessed this, immediately realizing what Ash was doing. He'd seen, and ever participated in similar acts many times over the years.

Despite the frequency of this occurrence, he knew it never got any easier; it broke Ash a little more every time. That may have been the only benefit to having such a negative reputation, most people wouldn't try to talk to you. At least, after the first time.

May was puzzled as to why he wouldn't accept the handshake, but could only shrug it off, obviously not paying much mind to the negative reputation Ash had, "Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello."

Gary locked eyes with the beautiful brunette, doing his best to show May that this conversation wouldn't go anywhere. Luckily, the look she received and the sight of Ash having already returned to his lunch, not even acknowledging she was there, seemed to have conveyed the message.

Ash desperately wanted to say something, and even though his willpower was at an all time low, he still he knew he couldn't. Though even while doing his best to believe his thoughts, his control was still on the decline.

May frowned at not getting a reaction out of him before turning around and walking away.

" _ _Maybe he is like everyone says... I don't understand why he wouldn't talk to me. I did defend him after all. Maybe all the rumors about him really are true.__ _"_ May thought to herself, trying to rationalize what had just occurred.

However, these thoughts quickly evaporated as Ash began to speak, just loud enough for her to hear.

"Hey, May...Thanks."

This brought a grin to May's face as she continued to walk back to her regular table.

 _"_ _ _I knew it! He's probably just really shy! Well, I feel better knowing that I talked to him."__ May thought.

He knew it could come back to bite him, but Ash couldn't bring himself to care at the moment. His willpower had hit zero in that moment. This girl had done something that no one ever had before, and she deserved thanks for it.

Ash turned to Gary, who was visibly shocked by the fact that he'd thanked her. Seeing his surprise, Ash spoke, "That proves that there are still good people out there. Seeing what I've seen, I was starting to lose hope, but now I know for sure... Some people still care."

Gary just nodded in agreement before both men glanced over at May, who had just returned to her table.

 _"_ _ _I'll never forget this."__ Ash promised himself.

* * *

 _ _End Flashback__

The harassment started happening less in school in the year following May's intervention, thanks to Paul not wanting to be chewed out by May again, especially in public.

May hadn't tried to speak to either Gary or Ash since that day over a year ago, but she still felt that she owed it to them to try to control her 'friend', despite the turmoil it caused in her already bumpy relationship with Paul, his friends, and his girlfriend, Misty.

Though the onslaughts weren't as prevalent in school, the beatings and pranks had become much more frequent out of school, where May was rarely around to stop Paul, Barry, and Kenny.

That wasn't to say that Ash and Gary were free from bedevilment at school. Where Paul left off, other students picked up. And while none ever went to the extremes that Paul did, the whispers and name calling came frequently.

This all stemmed from Paul's popularity. Because he was so popular, his control over the student body was incredibly high. When the other students saw Paul and his friends picking on Ash and Gary, they followed along, doing anything they could to help make the two boys' lives hell because it was 'the cool thing to do'.

Paul easily convinced others that Gary, and to a greater extent, Ash were total freaks. That rumor, along with how the two men acted in school made it pretty easy to believe the purple haired man.

The people that harassed Ash and Gary didn't know the first thing about them, though that didn't stop them from believing that they did. But to be fair, no one truly knew them at all. The two were an enigma, a mystery that no one had ever really had the desire to solve. Instead, they simply assumed whatever they heard to be fact.

Despite Gary and Ash's admittedly attractive appearance's, rumors constantly circulated about the two, blinding everyone from what they truly were. The ridiculous fabrications about their lives were plentiful, but the best Ash had ever heard was one including himself and pack of wolves having raised him. Others even spread the rumor that Gary had been in juvenal hall up until the year that he moved to town.

What the boys knew that others didn't was that these rumors could not have been further from the truth. Gary's story was one of much greater tragedy, coming from a broken home, much like Ash. The two were alike in that way. But unlike his friend, Ash had more than just a broken home.

He himself was also broken.

But of course, they kept their truths within their group of two, never desiring the pity of others.

Ash scoffed to himself as he thought about the concept of pity. Pity, as much as it was meant to be sincere, seemed to be damn near an insult. That those who felt it were looking down at the recipient. Ash preferred the word 'understanding' much more. And even though, some empathy would've been nice, it was just another luxury he couldn't afford.

Ash continued to let his mind linger as he stared out the window he was conveniently seated next to. That is, until his thoughts fell onto a topic that he knew he would have to face sooner or later. His thoughts drifted to the only thing in the world that scared him. The thing that had caused him so much pain. He fought through the anguish, however, because he knew he would need to tell Gary soon, as this news would effect him as much as it would himself.

Soon, he would have to face his greatest fear.

* * *

As Ash's thoughts roamed, his eyes wandered over to the only other person in the room that had ever really caught his eye. Though she was in fact beautiful in her own right, Ash frequently stole glances at her for another reason entirely. After all, they went way back, before any of this had even happened...

Ash snapped out of his thoughts as well as his gaze when a question from Mrs. Kilnes came flying his way.

"Ash, what year did the first war between Kanto and Unova begin?" The teacher questioned harshly, assuming Ash wouldn't know the answer.

What no one else knew was that Ash wasn't the idiot they thought him to be. If he actually applied himself, as cliché as it may sound, he could have passed all of his classes with A's; he was just naturally good at retaining information when he put his mind to it. Despite this, he was perfectly content with C's.

Though, this mentality tended to annoy his teachers. Gary's story was very similar, as he followed Ash's actions in almost every aspect of life. It wasn't what Gary wanted to, but it was what he signed up for when he became Ash's friend.

 _"_ _ _Great... history..."__ Ash sighed internally.

"I don't know." Ash muttered, just loud enough for everybody to here.

"As I suspected. See class, this is a perfect example of what a failure looks like." Mrs. Kilnes said as she strutted over to Ash's desk and placed a hand on his head, "Someone that lacks motivation, drive...or any semblance of intelligence for that matter..."

Ash simply sat motionless in his seat, staring downward and silently taking the verbal attack his teacher was dishing out to him.

May felt herself becoming immensely upset at the fact that her teacher would publicly humiliate someone like this. She had no idea what he might be going through and yet, she had the audacity to throw verbal daggers at one of her students. She had no choice but to simply snarl and try to ignore it as she knew that she couldn't argue with a teacher. The fact that this woman could even be called a teacher with the way she acted made May sick. She very much hated her, even though Mrs. Kilnes liked her as a student.

On the other side of the room, Gary stood up, "Mrs. Kilnes, may I go to the bathroom?"

Gary didn't really have to go to the restroom, he was simply hoping the distraction would end the verbal abuse Mrs. Kilnes was dishing out to his friend.

"No! You're just as bad as your buddy over here!" Mrs. Kilnes screamed.

The rest of the room fell into a fit of laughter at the two __losers__ getting chewed out by their teacher. Paul was laughing the hardest out of them all.

Although she looked as if she was about to speak more, Mrs. Kline's was cut off by the ringing of the bell.

"Don't forget your homework for tomorrow," Mrs. Kilnes said "There's a quiz on Friday! That only gives you three days to study, so get to it!"

Everyone, including Mrs. Kilnes, piled out of the room, the last two left were Gary and Ash. Gary waited for his friend to pack up his things so they could leave this horrid place.

"Come on Ash, we're headed to the bathroom." Stated Gary plainly.

Ash looked at Gary with a strange look on his face.

"And exactly why do I have to go with you?" Ash asked incredulously.

"Because Paul and his idiot friends might be in there and you wouldn't want me to rip their heads off, now would you?" Gary replied with a hint of sarcasm, but also a grain of truth present in his voice.

Ash sighed, "Fine, but make it quick. I don't need _another_ detention for bing late to my next class."

The two then walked to the bathroom which was luckily, completely empty. Gary turned the lock on the door to the public bathroom that was supposed to only be used by janitors when locking up the school at night. Though in his haste, Gary didn't realize that he hadn't actually managed to lock it...

"Perfect." Gary whispered to himself, noticing that the bathroom was empty.

Despite what he'd lead Ash to believe, Gary did no have to 'do his business'; he had an alternative motive as to why he brought Ash here.

Gary always had a great ability to read people, and the strongest connection for Gary was the one he had with Ash. So naturally, he could always tell when there was something wrong with him.

And right now.

There was definitely something wrong.

It may have seemed like a somewhat normal day for Ash, but Gary knew something was off.

Obviously, it was his birthday, a day Ash despised for... various reasons. However, the main thing that made Gary conclude that something was amiss, even more so than it normally would be on his birthday, was when he saw Ash sitting awake in homeroom. To see Ash awake during the majority of that class was a huge indicator that something was wrong.

With this in mind, Gary pulled Ash into the handicap stall where they could talk privately with sufficient space.

"Gary! What the hell? Why are you bringing me in here with you? I don't want to-" Ash was cut off by Gary's hand raising, signaling for him to be quiet.

"...Ash...what's up? What's wrong?" asked Gary, concerned. He really didn't feel like wasting time. They only had a out 8 minutes between classes, so they had to do this relatively quickly

"Wha- Nothing. What are you talking about? " Ash asked, confused.

"Ash, I've known you for a long time and I can tell when something is bothering you." Gary started, "Listen, I know how hard today is for you, but you're acting more down than usual. Even on a day like today."

Ash wasn't about to talk and Gary knew it. He needed to try a different approach. He sighed before beginning.

"I know it sounds like stupid therapist talk, but we really do need to talk about our problems so that we can concur them, especially those from the past." Gary spoke softly.

"And how do you know this has to do with my past?" Ash inquired, keeping his voice a whisper, much like his friend was doing.

"Doesn't every problem you have?" Gary responded. Upon hearing this, Ash sighed in defeat.

Just then, the door silently opened and in walked Barry, who was making his way to the urinal. As he was walking, he swore he heard someone talking. Allowing his curiosity to guide him, he walked towards the stalls that lined the back wall of the restroom. He listened closely and after a bit of time, recognized the voices to be those of Ash and Gary.

 _"_ _ _What are they doing in a stall together? ...Oh man... are they gay? Wait until everyone gets a load of this!"__ Barry thought to himself, laughing silently. He decided to stick around and listen into their conversation to see what they might be telling each other.

"You have got to be kidding me, Gary... I don't want to tell you my life story again. It's hard enough dealing with the fact that it's been exactly 10 years since my parents were killed, and on my birthday no less!" Ash stated quietly, with a hint of anger evident in his voice.

Barry 's eyes widened in shock upon hearing Ash's words, __"Did I just hear that right...? No...There's now way..."__

Despite this thought, Barry was feeling conflicted. He was unconvincing, even to himself.

What Ash'd just said made Barry incredibly uncomfortable, even if he was hesitant to believe what he'd heard. Barry decided to keep listening to the conversation, giving in to the overwhelming desire to attain more information.

"Please just do it, Ash. If it'll help, then I'll even go first. Maybe that'll get you to talk." Gary sighed before beginning, "As you already know, my mom was killed by a drunk driver when I was six..."

Gary paused for a moment as he allowed the painful memory to surface, his emotions already beginning to overwhelm him, "I-I couldn't believe that my mom was gone. Just like that...poof. Out of my life forever. I was only six years old and I'd already lost my mother." Gary eyes began to water

Ash stared at him understandingly, he knew what is was like to lose the ones you love the most in the world.

"After her death, my dad went off the deep end. He started drinking more and more and neglecting all responsibility. He would leave me home alone for days at a time when he was off doing god knows what. He's still like this, even now. The only difference now is that I only have to see him for about a month out of the year. I can't even remember the last time I've seen him sober. I've done everything I can to help him, but nothing works. He's so god damn selfish! That old bastard!" Gary finished, taking a few deep breaths in order to calm down.

"And right now, my problem... my problem is that my best friend has a major issue that I want to help him with, but he's being too stubborn to talk about it." Gary added, already past his anger and beginning to recover from the somberness that overtook him during his tale.

Ash looked back at Gary's teary eyes, knowing that his friend was right. There was a huge problem, he could feel it. Ash thought he knew what it was, but he couldn't be totally sure. And if being able to tell Gary what he was feeling meant recounting the most horrific moment of his life, then so be it.

He relived it every night in his nightmares anyway.

And so, after a moment of silence, Ash began...

* * *

 _ _Flashback__

"Mommy! Daddy! This has been the best birthday ever!" Screamed an 8 year old Ash, clearly ecstatic..

"I know sweetie! So you had fun today at your party with all of your friends?" said a 38 year old woman named Delia.

"Of course mommy! It was so much fun!" Exclaimed Ash as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The 40 year old father, Richard, couldn't help but laugh at his son's antics.

The man now identified as Richard looked at his family and smiled. He couldn't help but allow his thoughts to shift to his family, __"Ash is growing up so fast. He's kind of starting to look like me, too. I must be the luckiest guy in the world to have found a woman like Delia and to have a son like Ash.__ _"_

"Hey guys, how about we go get some ice cream before we head home? I know its already dark out, but I could really go for something sweet." Questioned Richard

"Yeah dad, that sounds great!" Exclaimed Ash.

Both Delia and Richard smiled as the reached the conveniently located ice cream shop right across the street from the park. The group of three halted, however, as Richard noticed a sign in the window of the ice cream shop that framed the words "Cash only." He then reached into is pocket, only to find his credit card and ID with him.

"Delia, do you have any cash for the ice cream?" Richard asked.

"Sorry honey, but I left my purse at home." Delia responded.

"Okay, not a problem, we'll just find an ATM machine." Richard said positively.

The trio walked about 3 blocks from the shop until the spotted an old looking ATM machine embedded in the side of wall. Richard and Delia seemed slightly uncomfortable about the lack of lighting that surrounded the street and the ATM. Not only that, but their trek had also brought them back into their hometown of Pallet.

Despite the danger the town was known for, Pallet Town was the only place the family of three could afford to live. Walking after sunset in this place was always unnerving, but it seemed especially so on this night for some reason. Richard made note to take a cab back home after they'd gotten their ice cream; dishing out a bit of extra money was worth piece of mind in this case.

The three quickly approached the ATM and Richard inserted his card. Despite everything seemingly going fine, Richard couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. He decided it would be best to get this done quick, if only to settle his nerves.

He selected the amount he wanted to withdraw from his checking account and the money dispensed quickly from the machine. He grabbed the cash and placed it in his wallet before reaching for his wife's and son's hands.

Feeling glad to be able to leave the shady street, they began the walk back to the ice cream shop. However, they didn't get far before they were stopped by a man in a mask and a large, black trench coat, which matched the rest of his dark clothing.

Richard and Delia's worst nightmare seemed to be realized. They'd gone many years without any real trouble in Pallet Town, certainly an anomaly all things considered. Even though they hoped desperately that this man was just going to pass them, realistically it seemed their luck had run out.

Plus, there was always the fear of Richard's past coming back to haunt him, something he feared immensely. It wasn't fear for himself however, but fear for his wife and son.

The family of three looked on in fear. The way the man was standing indicated that he wasn't planning on letting the family pass. Feeling the primal need to defend his family, Richard stepped forward. As he took a step, he silently prayed that if anything, this was just a robbery...

"W-who are you? What do you want?" Richard asked hesitantly, knowing that the person was up to no good. The feeling of terror growing within the three grew with each second that passed. Despite that growing feeling, Richard still took another step forward, willing to protect his family at any cost.

No response came from the masked man. He simply stood his ground, his gaze sternly locked on the family. Despite the overwhelming feeling of terror, Richard tried his best to put on a brave face.

"Is it money? Do you want money? Here, take it!" Richard said before tossing the man his wallet, which contained all the money he had just withdrawn from the ATM.

The wallet bounced off of the man's chest and fell lamely to the ground. The man looked down at the wallet and cocked his head, almost as if he was confused. He then reached into his pocket, worrying the parents greatly; for all they knew, this man could have a gun.

But he didn't.

What he did have, however, was a lighter. He then proceeded to pick up the wallet, and remove all of the crisp new bills Richard had just withdrawn from it. Staring at the money intently, the man in the mask sparked the lighter until a bright flame appeared.

Without hesitation, the man slowly brought the flame to the money, setting it ablaze. Everyone in attendance watched as the bills slowly turned to ash in the man's gloved hand. When the cash was nothing more than hot remains, he returned his gaze to the family in front of him.

Richard's eyes widened when his gaze met that of the masked man's. He was petrified. Since he hadn't accepted the money, he had no idea what this man wanted. All he knew that this was not just a simple robbery...

And is strange as it my sound, that was a _very_ bad thing.

The man then backed away before placing the lighter back into his trench coat's inner pocket. Then, with his gloved hands, he unsheathed what looked to be a small sword. It wasn't long enough to be considered a sword, but it also wasn't short enough to be a dagger. But no matter what it was, it still looked to be extremely sharp.

Everyone's eyes grew wide at the sight of the blade glistening under the pale moonlight. Ash was now crying hysterically and cowering in fear as Richard and Delia's knees trembled.

"Ash." Richard started breathlessly as he took a step back toward his family. "Run."

Ash looked up at his father in shock before shaking his head; He wasn't going to leave his mom and dad alone with this scary man.

"Ash. Go...NOW!" Delia screamed the last word, which startled Ash into running. Then, almost superhumanly fast, the man sprinted towards Richard, plunging the sword into his abdomen before he could even react, twisting and contorting the blade all the while.

Richard's eyes opened wide as he felt the life escaping his body. With his last motion, he looked up to see his killers cold, black eyes.

"Why?" He muttered, more in anger than curiosity. At the last second, a flicker of recognition crossed his face before he fell to the ground, lifeless..

Delia screamed in horror at what she'd just witnessed. Her cries fell silent however, as almost instantly after Richard fell, she was in the same position, sword in her stomach, falling to the ground helplessly, and looking deep into the eyes of her killer.

What no one knew was that Ash had not ran very far, opting to hide behind a garbage can where he watched the scene unfold. He was trying to be quiet and hold back the tears and screams of terror, but witnessing both his parents die was more than enough to make the boy scream out.

"Mommy! Daddy! Anybody! HELP!" Ash screamed desperately.

The murderous man heard the squeals and slowly made his way toward Ash. He stood frozen in fear as he realized, that at the young age of eight, his life would be ended. The man stopped when he stood directly in front of the scared little boy, sword in hand, still dripping with the blood of his parents.

Before a move could be made, the familiar sound of police sirens could be heard turning the corner onto the street.

The man breathed a sigh of disappointment before beginning to walk away.

Before he got too far however, the man stopped and without looking back, spoke...

He said things...

Words that would change Ash's life forever.

 _ _Flashback End__

* * *

"...And I don't think I have to remind you of what he said to me." Ash said in a matter of fact tone.

Although he'd already known the story, Gary stood there awestruck. He wasn't like Ash in the sense that he never cried, and so he did. He started sobbing quietly and slowly as his friend put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. It seemed kind of backwards all things considered, but neither of the men cared.

Gary remembered what Ash had told him; the words that the man had said to him before he fled. In fact, he was the only one that Ash had ever told what was said to him that night. These words were what'd forced him to change who he was, making his life nearly unbearable.

"This leads me to my problem, why I seem off right now..." Ash sighed, "I think...what he said...i-it's going to happen... I don't know how, or when, but I just have this feeling and it won't go away."

Ash looked down at the floor, revealing an emotion he rarely showed...

Fear.

Even when he knew he was about to be beaten up by Paul or when he was faced with some other dangerous situation, he rarely showed any signs of fear; not having much to lose will do that to a person. So instead of being scared he'd simply accept the situation and go on with his life. The man that'd stolen the lives of his parents was the only being that could truly strike fear into his heart.

Gary literally gasped as he heard what Ash said. He felt terror of his own crawling its way through his body, but when he noticed how scared Ash was, he decided he needed to push his own feelings away for the time being and reassure his friend.

"Ash." Upon hearing his name, Ash looked to Gary. "You said this is just a feeling, a hunch. Chances are, nothing will come of it."

"Well...sure, but what if-"

Gary cut Ash off, "But if you're right, and that's a big __if__ _,_ remember that you won't have to face this alone. I've always got your back no matter what. That's what brothers are for."

Ash couldn't help but allow a smirk find its way to his face as he let Gary's words sink in. His feeling of reassurance was short lived, however, as an overwhelming feeling of guilt made its way throughout Ash's body.

It was his fault that Gary had to be in this position. Gary would've never had to worry about this man had he never became friends with him. It was more than likely too late, but he had to try...

Allowing his thoughts to wander for a moment, Ash mumbled quietly.

"We are not brothers..."

"What?" Gary asked, hearing what was said, but not believing it.

"I said, YOU ARE NOT MY BROTHER! NEVER HAVE BEEN, AND NEVER WILL BE." Ash responded much louder, this time with anger evident in his voice. "So why don't you just get out of here and leave me alone... you're useless anyway."

Gary couldn't seem to respond. He stared at Ash with eyes filled with hurt and surprise. He couldn't believe what he was saying to him. He was speaking to him as he did all the other kids at his school.

And that's when it hit him.

His features lost all signs of being upset and changed to a look of compassion and understanding.

"Ash, I know what you're doing, and I'm telling you right now that it won't work...not on me."

"What the hell are you talking about you psycho!" Ash nearly screamed at Gary, who remained unfazed by this.

"Ash, I think you're forgetting something very important." Gary stated calmly.

Ash was now confused more than anything. He couldn't think of anything he'd forgotten.

"Don't you remember the first time we met? You said something similar to me that day. Do you remember?" Gary questioned.

Ash's face lost all signs of anger as he realized his act would never be successful, not on Gary. His face was now painted with guilt.

"Of course I do." Ash responded softly, with a sad smile. "I called you an asshole and told you to stay away from me."

Gary was now laughing as Ash put his hand behind his head in embarrassment.

Halting his laughter, but still retaining his smile, Gary spoke, "And do you remember what I did next?"

"...You sat down across from me." Ash now had a full smile on his face as he recalled the memory.

"That's right." Gary said. "If it didn't work then, when I didn't know you, then why would it work now that we've been best friends for years?"

Ash felt the guilt sweep through him again as he spoke, "I guess you're right. It's just, if you hadn't sat down with me that day and ignored me like all the others, then you wouldn't be in this position..."

"Would you shut up already!? I told you before and I will tell you again, no matter what happens, you __will not__ be facing this alone. Whether you like it or not, I'm going to be by your side no matter what!" Gary spoke determinedly.

Gary stuck his hand out for a handshake. Ash looked hesitantly at the hand and sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to convince Gary of leaving him to handle this on his own. Without another thought, he clasped Gary's hand and gave it a firm shake with a smile on his face.

Inside, Ash was relieved that he had someone that he could count on.

His best friend.

His brother.

* * *

Barry ran out of the bathroom just as the stall began to open, narrowly avoiding being seen by the two boys. His mind was running a mile a minute, attempting to comprehend all the information that had just been revealed to him.

He still had a hard time believing any of it, but he couldn't come up with a good reason as to why they would be lying about it either. The feeling of confusion consumed him as he moved quickly through the hallway.

Having come from a sheltered home, something this extreme was hard to imagine. The worst thing that had ever happened to his family was a parking ticket.

 _"_ _ _There is no way that story could be true... could it?"__ Barry asked himself, __"I don't know what to think! I have to find Paul and the others and tell them about this, they'll know what to do!"__

Barry started off on his search for his friends Paul, May, Misty, Dawn, and his brother, Kenny. As it was still between periods, the hallways were packed with kids, slowing him down greatly. His search was cut short, however, as the warning bell, signifying one minute before second period would start, rang out.

 _"_ _ _Damn it... looks like I'll have to wait until lunch."__ Barry sighed as he walked to his next class.

…

…

The first half of the day seemed to be moving in slow motion to Barry. His mind was racing, and he was questioning many of the things he thought he once knew.

Barry continued this internal battle for the entirety of the first half of the day. It was in fourth period when he finally realized that the chances of what he'd heard not being true weren't very high. It were these thoughts that caused the boy to begin feeling something he'd never felt before:

Guilt.

He felt guilty for making Ash and Gary's lives more miserable than it seemed they were already. Barry was almost in a near panic, all of this information being too much for him to handle on his own. Luckily however, his next period was lunch and he would be able to get the opinions of his friends; Paul, Dawn, Misty, May, and his brother Kenny.

 _" _My friends will know what to think. I just have to be patient..."__ Barry thought to himself, looking out the window whilst his chemistry teacher babbled on.

"Barry." Professor Elm, Barry 's Chemistry teacher said.

"Barry!" He called again, this time much louder, catching the boy's attention.

"If you like starring out windows so much, how about you get acquainted with the large one in the __detention__ room after school today!?" Mr. Elm exclaimed.

"But Professor Elm, I was jus-" Barry couldn't finish his thought before Mrs. Elm jumped in again.

"How about two days of detention then!"

Barry sighed as he walked to the professors desk to pick up his freshly earned detention slips.

 _"_ _ _Just great..."__ Barry thought to himself as he dragged himself back to his seat.

* * *

 ** **A/N: Well guys, that was the first chapter of my newest story, "Facade." Because today is the debut of the new story, I'll be posting another chapter in just a few days. I would post it sooner, but I have orientation for the college I'll be attending in the fall. As soon as I get back, I'll post the next chapter of "Facade."****

 ** **I originally wanted to finish, "A Trial of Will" before I posted another story, but I just really wanted to get this one out; I'm super excited about the plot of this story.****

 ** **REGARDING ACTUAL POKEMON IN STORY: In this story, pokemon DO exist. However, they are very rare, with battles and the like being even more of an anomaly.****

 ** **To all of you that are also reading "A Trial of Will", you should know that I really like to take my time developing characters and the plot and that's even more important in this story since the characters will be out of character as well as the fact that this is an AU story. What I'm trying to say is to enjoy the first 6 or so chapters with a lot of build up and a decent amount of payoff as well, but also be excited for the intense action that is to come with the latter part of the story.****

 ** **A fun fact about this story is that I actually started writing this way before I even had the idea for a Trial of Will. Also, I originally planned for this to be just a regular fiction novel, having nothing to do with pokemon. However, I decided to go the fanfiction route in the end because that is what I have the most fun doing.****

 ** **Anyways, please leave a review telling me what you think of the story so far and what you're hoping to see, and don't hold back! Thank you all so much for supporting me and my work on this site, I appreciate it more than any of you could know. I hope you all stick around to see this story take off. As a hint I will say that when things really take off, (you'll definitely know when that happens) the plot of the story will involve something like a deadly game of sorts. That's all I'll say for now.****

 ** **See Ya!****


	2. In a New Light

****A/N: Hey everyone and welcome to the second chapter of "Facade". I was pretty happy with the response the first chapter got all things considered. I know AU fics aren't everybody's cup of tea, so it's nice to see that at least some people like it. I've also made some revisions to the first chapter if any of you are interested in seeing said changes.****

 ** **I'd also like to take this time to mention that this was the first story I ever started writing, meaning if you are coming over from "A Trial of Will", my writing style might be a bit different. Also because I was new at it, this story will have a few cliches and such in it. I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing as long as they're done correctly. After all, cliches became such because they were so popular and were used a lot.****

 ** **Anyway, enough rambling. Enjoy the chapter!****

* * *

 _"_ _ _There's always another story. There's more than meets the eye."__

 _ _\- W.H Auden__

* * *

Facade

Barry leapt from his seat as soon as the bell rang. He flew out the door, no longer able to handle the torture that was keeping this newfound knowledge to himself. He was well aware that bad things happen, but he'd never seen or heard of anything so tragic, leaving Barry to have a hard time wrapping his mind around the idea that what'd happened could actually be true.

Barry sprinted through the hallways, bumping into people left and right, trying his hardest to get to the lunchroom as fast as possible.

It didn't take long for Barry to arrive at the cafeteria. Immediately, he rushed over to his usual table near the back of the room, directly next to the vending machines. Because of how quickly he rushed, Barry was the first of his friends to the table, and one of the first people in the lunch room period.

Having this information eating away at his mind for an unbearable amount of time, Barry was unable to sit still. Instead, he began to pace back and forth near the table, desperately awaiting the arrival of his friends

After what seemed like an eternity, he saw his friends waltz into the lunchroom. Barry incredibly relieved, right up until he point when he realized that they weren't walking towards him...

Barry sighed in disappointment, as he realized that they would obviously want to get their food before sitting down, like always. Finally being reminded of something other than what he'd heard earlier in the day, Barry's stomach let out a soft grumble.

Despite his newly realized hunger, Barry concluded that now was not the time to rush off and get food, not when he had something so important to share.

Finally, he spotted his friends walking to the table. Misty and Kenny seemed to be listening intently to whatever Paul was saying, while Dawn and May were talking quietly to themselves, ignoring the other three completely. Along with them were a few stragglers, others who sat at their table.

Before everyone was even fully seated, Barry spoke out.

"There's something I _really_ need to tell you guys."

"Hold on a sec, let me finish telling this story." Paul said before turning his attention back to the gaggle of students who had come along to listen to his tale. "So anyway, they just kept talking and talking, even whe-"

"NOW!" Barry shouted, gaining the attention of all of his friends... as well as the entire lunch room, which had fallen silent upon hearing his yell.

Barry and looked around, the serious expression leaving his face once he realized the scene he'd just made. The blond boy smiled sheepishly in embarrassment and let out a nervous laugh. After just a few moments without any further incident, the lunchroom simply returned to its normal loud state. That is, except for those he actually wanted to talk to, as they were now waiting intently to hear what he had to say.

Kenny, May, and Dawn all held shocked expressions on their faces. Everyone knew that Paul didn't take being yelled at very kindly, no matter who the person was. Misty simply giggled at what she imagined was going to happen to Barry when Paul inevitably flipped out on him.

Misty never really liked Barry much. In her opinion, he had to be the most annoying person on planet earth. Despite that, he was one of Paul's best friends and if he made her boyfriend happy, then she could tolerate him, at least to an extent.

Much to everyone's surprise, instead of losing his mind and screaming right back, Paul crossed his arms and spoke calmly, "Okay, you've got my attention. What is it?"

Getting over the initial shock of the short tempered Paul not verbally assaulting Barry, the others gave their full attention to the boy; if what he had to say was so important that he would risk yelling at Paul, then it was definitely in their best interest to listen in.

"I...I heard something earlier and I don't know what to think... It's been eating away at me all day and I thought it was important that you all knew. In a way, it involves all of us." Barry started.

This peaked everyone's interest, as their expressions changed to one of complete attentiveness. The only expression that didn't change was the stoic one plastered on Paul's face.

Barry stopped for a moment to take a breath.

"Well...? You going to tell us?" Paul asked, getting slightly impatient.

Barry sighed as he thought about how to word what he was about to say.

"I don't think we know Ash and Gary as well as we think we do." Barry stated lowly, not really knowing how to start his explanation.

The mention of Ash's name made May frown. She hated what her 'friends' would do to him and his friend, Gary. She'd stopped Paul and the others from picking on him once and made them promise to never do it again. But despite the promise, Paul never seemed to pay mind to it and even just the next day, he was back to tormenting them.

Seeing this, even after her threats and words of sincerity, May begrudgingly accepted that it was hopeless; nothing could change what Paul and the others did. She did vow, however, that if she ever saw them torturing the poor boys, then she would make sure the harassment would stop, even despite any potential risk to herself. Plus, she'd managed to prevent them from doing quite a few mean things to Ash and Gary before they had the chance to.

Knowing full well of May's vow, Paul, Barry, and Kenny did their best to try to mostly inflict suffering to the two boys when May and Dawn weren't around. After all at school, there were plenty of other people who tormented the two boys.

Dawn was May's best friend, and they knew that if she saw them messing with Ash and Gary, then she would have no qualms about stopping them either. Besides the two women, everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Harassment as a form of entertainment...

It really is a sick world.

A good number of people loved watching the twisted attacks on the two innocent boys. Their only crimes were being different from everyone else, and being understandingly grumpy most of the time. The thought alone made May sick.

Snapping out of her thoughts, May returned her attention to Barry, who'd just began speaking.

"I heard them in the bathroom stall-" Barry was about to continue but was cut off by his brother.

"Bathroom stall...together?! I always knew those two were faggots!" The table, save for May, Barry, and Dawn burst out into laughter.

Barry knew that this reaction was likely to come. After all, that was his first thought as well. The howling slowly began to die down and once silence had found its way to the group again, Barry continued, not amused. This was obviously a serious subject.

"No, they were just talking, they weren't doing whatever it is you're thinking, Kenny." Barry explained, "Okay, so this is where it gets weird. They were talking about their pasts. You know, how they got to be like they are now and stuff. Thinking about it now, no one really knows anything about their histories. But now...if I __do__ believe what they said... I think I get it. I understand why they're so... distant, for lack of a better term."

Now, everyone was listening intently, no side conversations were happening all across the group. Despite how widely disliked Ash was, his story was still one of great intrigue and mystery; No one really knew anything about him or Gary. Though, most people weren't curious enough to try and find out. And the one's who did try were always rudely turned away by the two boys.

"Gary asked Ash what was wrong with him, he could tell somehow even though to me, he looked about the same as always. Anyway, Gary brought up how they need to talk about their problems, their lives in order to move forward." Barry started.

Barry paused momentarily. He was finally about to spill what had been bugging him all day and yet, he didn't know how to say it. The words just wouldn't leave his mouth, even when he desperately wanted this off of his chest.

Apparently, this agitated more than one of his friends, who'd clearly become invested in the story. Misty, never being afraid to share her thoughts or opinions, vocalized them, "Well...? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to finish the story? Idiot..."

Had his mind not been clouded with thoughts, Barry would have tried to come back with some sarcastic remark. Though in his current state, only the Misty's question actually got through to him.

Taking a deep breath, Barry started, "Gary went first. Apparently... his mom was killed by a drunk driver when he was six. After that, his father became a good for nothing drunk that leaves him to fend for himself most of the time."

There were varying reactions from everyone, the most common being utter shock. The thought of personal tragedy being the cause of the two boys' reserved demeanors never crossed anyone's mind for some odd reason. Paul's stoic expression even broke for a moment; the mention of Gary's drunk of a father resurfaced some painful memories of his own.

May was shocked and more than anything, saddened by the revelation. But now, at least she could understand why Gary acted so strangely. If that'd happened to her, May thought, there was a decent chance that she would be just like him.

After losing the two most important people in his life, it was easy to understand why he was so distant. Though, this still left many questions unanswered, specifically about Ash. She now had an idea as to Gary's issue, but Ash was still very much a mystery. Despite the various scenarios she was creating in her head, she doubted his story could be harsher than Gary's...

Slowly regaining her composure, May tuned back in just as Barry began speaking again.

"That's not even close to the worst of it. Ash's story, it's...it's worse...a lot worse."

Nobody could fathom what could possibly be worse than what they had just heard. Luckily, they didn't have to wonder for long as Barry immediately continued.

"When he was eight...Ash, he...um...his-" Barry was having some difficulty speaking as his emotions began to overtake his vocal chords, "His parents were...killed. Murdered, actually.

There was a collective gasp around the table. No one was sure if what they were hearing could possibly be true; like Barry, most everyone had lived extremely sheltered lives, so the idea of a real life murder attached to someone in their school was foreign to them.

Dawn and May glanced at each other with looks of disbelief, shock and sadness on their faces. They'd heard of stuff like this happening on the news, but the fact that it'd happened to someone they knew made it feel all too real. It really was hard to believe something so tragic could happen to anyone. As they digested the information, an extreme sense of disrepair and empathy for the raven haired man flowed throughout a few of their bodies.

"But that's not even the worst of it..." Barry continued, shocking everyone even further, "Ash...he was there. He was there when it happened. He had to watch his parents die... And had the cops not gotten there in time, then he would have been killed too."

"I don't really remember what they said after that, I was too shocked to keep listening. I've spent this whole day trying to fathom just how something like this could have happened. Honestly, I just don't know if I can believe this or not, or if I even want to. How can something so awful actually have happened to somebody we know? I-I just don't know what to think, which is why I came to you guys, to get an opinion." Barry finished, the feeling of a great weight being lifted off of his chest washed over him with the last word he spoke.

All, even Misty who was silently known to be fairly cold hearted, looked to be incredibly distraught.

All but Paul.

Paul sat with his expression still unchanged as he mumbled.

…

…

"Bullshit."

All eyes locked onto Paul once he said this.

"What?" Barry asked incredulously. Even though he'd told his friends the story to get an opinion on this, it seemed that he'd already subconsciously decided that he believed it.

"I said that story is bullshit. You said you wanted our opinion, so there it is." Paul said, making sure to speak louder.

Barry didn't respond immediately, instead opting to gather his thoughts. After a few seconds, he spoke his mind, "But why would they lie about that when they were in private? And more than that, they were barely speaking in more than a whisper the entire time."

It wasn't that Barry was necessarily defending Ash and Gary's stories, but instead, he was voicing the conflicting thoughts that were circling his mind.

Barry's logic seemed too solid to be ignored. That is, by everyone except for Paul, whom had other ideas.

"Isn't it obvious. Ash and Gary knew that someone would walk into the bathroom when they were talking and hear what they were saying. It's not like a restroom in between classes is the most private place in the world. The person that heard that conversation would most likely tell everybody about it, just like you're doing now. They just wanted to start a little pity party for themselves and were hoping that gullible fools like you would join in and give them some attention." Paul stated, in a matter of fact tone.

Whether these were his true thoughts or not, even Paul wasn't sure. All the purple haired man knew was that he really didn't want anything to change. And if these stories were true, then things would most definitely be different

His theory had holes, a lot of them, but it seemed to be enough to placate most of the table, save for May, Dawn, and Barry. Paul was the big man on campus and what he says, goes. At least, for many people.

"I-I don't know Paul, your theory doesn't make a lot of sense and it doesn't exactly prove that they weren't telling the truth." Barry said.

Barry was caught in a mental struggle with himself over the subject matter. He didn't know who to believe. He truly thought that talking to his friends would bring clarity to the situation but instead, it only ended up adding to his confusion.

"Fine!" Paul said, slightly annoyed that not everyone sided with him. He knew this wouldn't be dropped until they knew the ruth, "How about this: we follow Ash home after school and try to find out a bit more about him. We can see where he lives, maybe eavesdrop a bit. By the end of the day, I know for a fact that we'll find out that he's just a lying sack of shit. But for now, we do _not_ spread this around and we act as if this conversation never happened. Got it?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement, thinking it was for the best to keep this quiet for the time being.

"Wait, guys!" Barry chimed in, "I have detention today after school! You can't do this without me!"

"Don't worry Barry, you wont miss anything. Ash got detention today as well during first period, so we'll have to wait for him anyway." May said, reassuring Barry .

"I need to go home and change first, this dress doesn't exactly keep me inconspicuous." Said Misty. Dawn nodded her head in agreement.

Misty was a beautiful redhead who, at the time, was wearing a bright yellow sun dress. Her hair was shoulder length and appeared to be soft as a cloud. An aura of confidence followed her wherever she went, something a lot of people were attracted to. She wasn't as tall as May or Dawn and some even would even go as far as to say not as beautiful, but due to her popularity and who her boyfriend was, she usually got more attention than either of her female friends. The only problem she had was that, as mentioned before, she was know to be a bit cold hearted and brash. In that respect, it seemed that her and Paul were made for each other.

Dawn was also exceptionally beautiful in her own right. She had long, dark blue colored hair that match perfectly with her striking blue eyes. Like Misty, she also held a certain aura of confidence where ever she went. However, where her redheaded friend's was more of an 'I'm so much better than you' confidence, Dawn's was more kind and less self-absorbed. The only thing she ever seemed really self-conscious about was her hair. She hated when it wasn't absolutely perfect. Even when playing sports, she always wanted her hair to be exactly how she wanted it.

She was taller than Misty, but not quite as tall as May. According to anyone that knew her, she was an extremely funny person. She loved joking around, but also knew when to be serious...at least, most of the time. She was also known to be quite girly while at the same time being decently athletic, a seemingly rare combination. Currently, she was wearing a black and pink shirt with a matching skirt and high socks.

Unlike her two friends, May seemed fine to go in what she was currently wearing as she was wearing a simple red tee shirt and jeans. This backed up the fact that everyone in the school already knew, May did not need to try very hard to look absolutely stunning.

Even when everyone agreed to follow Ash after school, May still felt a bit of apprehension. She took pride in her morals and good behavior, never earning so much as a detention throughout her life. She knew that spying on someone, invading their privacy, was wrong but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. She could deal with the moral implications later.

Right then, they all agreed that after school, they would follow Ash. To find out who he was.

Who he __really__ was.

* * *

"Come on, hurry up! We aren't going to make it back up to the school in time to meet the others!" May spoke impatiently to her two friends, pt of whom currently changing into more casual clothes at Misty's house.

"Calm down May it's only 3:20... detention doesn't even end until 4." Dawn responded calmly.

May looked somewhat flustered, "Sorry, I've never had detention before. I'm just really anxious about all of this."

Dawn smirked at her exceptionally innocent friend and shook her head.

Misty was still in her closet, the door partially closed as she changed into her new set of clothes. Not being one to particularly enjoy silences, she decided to share something that had popped into her mind.

"You know, it really is too bad Ash is such a freak," May and Dawn looked towards the closet door, confused looks adoring their faces, wondering what on earth Misty could be talking about, "Because based on looks alone, he's actually pretty hot. And Gary's not too bad either."

Both girls were shocked by what their friend's words; it was honestly the last thing they would've expected to come out of her mouth. May, Dawn, and seemingly everyone else, never really looked at the two boys in such a way; they were simply too distracted by their strange behavior and negative attitudes. The only time anyone could focus on their looks was if they didn't know of them, leaving very few to have ever looked at them in __that__ way

However, as they pictured the boys in their minds from the times they'd seen them in the past, they began to see how Misty could think such a thing. Their thoughts caused May and Dawn to flush light pink.

May held an uncomfortable look on her face, her innocence shining through her features. Dawn was definitely uncomfortable as well.

"I-I mean, I guess so. I've never really looked at them that way." May responded timidly.

"Y-Yeah, me neither..." Although she was definitely more confident with her sexuality than May, the thoughts in her head still made her a bit uncomfortable. It was strange thinking about two guys that they'd hardly ever thought twice about before in this way.

Misty then walked out of the closet wearing a tight navy shirt and jeans, very similar to what the other two girls were wearing. Shaking out of their thoughts and embarrassment, both Dawn and May stood to their feet.

"Anyways, ready to head it out? It takes about 30 minutes to get to the school from here by foot since __someone__ had to get their car taken away for missing curfew." Dawn said accusingly, annoyance evident in her voice.

"It was Paul's fault, he just really didn't want me to leave." Misty responded with an innocent giggle, clearly implying something more. The two other girls just shook their head in disgust. "Come on, lets get going."

The three girls wasted little time in leaving the house in route to the high school. The walk felt excruciatingly long for Dawn and May as Misty would not shut up about Paul the entire way. Misty was their friend, but the two girls definitely did not like the relationship she shared with Paul.

Both girls supposed they considered Paul a friend, but he was more of a friend by association than anything else. During their freshman year, Misty had fallen head over heels for the boy, and it seemed Paul loved her as well. Now that they were both seniors, little had changed between them.

Despite the happiness she found with Paul, Misty changed when she started dating him. Before she met Paul, Misty was a sweet and charming girl that wouldn't hurt a soul, much like Dawn and May. No one could ever call her cold hearted back then. However, once she got together with the purple haired boy, Misty began to change, in a way that Dawn and May would say was for the worse.

Slowly but surely, she became more shallow and brash. She also seemed to start to care less and less about other people, constantly berating others behind their backs and rarely helping others in need unless there was something she herself could gain from it. It was like she'd done a complete 180 from the person she was in middle school.

The three girls had been best friends ever since they were little kids but now, it seemed as if May and Dawn were the only __real__ friends that were still around; May only felt truly comfortable with Dawn and vice versa. But no matter how Misty acted, how cold she'd became, neither May nor Dawn felt that they couldn't abandon their long time friend. Their history together was just too great to throw everything away, even though they hated the type of person Misty was now.

The three girls finally arrived at the front of the school at about 3:55, and there waiting for them were Paul and Kenny.

"You guys sure cut it close." Paul said, slightly annoyed. Although he was a bit angry at them being late, he still allowed Misty to greet him by giving him a kiss the cheek.

"Blame your girlfriend here. She's the one that got her car taken away..." Dawn barked in response.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is that you're here now. We just have to wait a few more minutes until Barry and those two losers get out of detention. But we have to remember to make sure that our targets don't see us." Paul stated.

"Targets?" May half scoffed, half laughed "Your making it sound like we are gonna kill them or something."

"Hey, you don't know what we'll see those two doing. What if they're doing something totally evil and we have to stop them!" Kenny said with a laugh, obviously kidding around. This earned him a punch in the arm from May which had a surprising amount of strength behind it.

This earned a laugh from everyone except for Kenny, who was rubbing his arm with a noticeable look of pain on his face. It was moments like these that made May and Dawn continue to associate with this group of people, times where they actually acted like friends. No hatred. No harassment. Just...friendship.

No matter how inconsistently moments like this came.

As the group finished up laughing at the scene, the clock tower in the middle of town rang out, signaling that it was four o'clock. Paul made sure to tell Barry where everyone would be hiding so that when he exited the school, he would easily be able to meet up with them.

Not 30 seconds later, the double doors to the school swung open revealing Barry, who was the first one out. Quickly, he made his way behind the set of stairs that led to the entrance of the school, where he was informed the others would be waiting for him.

"Hey guys." Barry greeted his friends quietly. "Are you ready for this?"

"I guess, but I still don't think I like this whole thing. I feel kind of bad about spying on him." May stated, apprehension apparent in her voice.

"If you didn't approve of this, then why did you show up? No one said you had to come." Questioned Paul with arrogance in his voice, knowing that he had an unbeatable argument.

May scoured her brain for a come back. Once she realized she was unable to find one, she sighed in defeat, to which Paul smiled internally in victory while keeping his face stoic. The group waited another minute until they saw exactly who they were waiting for.

"There he is," Misty started quietly, motioning toward the newly revealed man, "And Gary is with him too. Looks like we're getting a two for one deal today. Let's follow 'em."

The group watched as the two boys walked out the doors of the school and down the stairs in silence. Once they created some distance from the school, Paul and the others followed discreetly. They made sure that they were staying far enough back so that they could see the two boys, but the two they were following wouldn't be able to see or hear them.

They had been trailing the boys down the sidewalk for about a half a mile when the group watched Ash halt his stride and whisper something to Gary. Fearing that they had been figured out, the group of teens halted, having no where to hide. Each member of the group let out a quiet sigh of relief when they saw Gary shrug and continue walking forward, all without ever turning around.

It wasn't long before the teens passed the spot where earlier this morning, Paul had punched Ash. It was easy to tell that this was the spot as dried blood, which had came from Ash's busted chin, could be seen on the concrete before them. The boys silently hoped neither May nor Dawn would piece together the cut on Ash's chin with the little bit of blood on the ground. Though, they weren't all that worried about it; it was a real long shot that they could ever traced it back to them.

Where this occurred also happened to be right about where Viridian City turned into Pallet Town, which everyone knew wasn't exactly a good neighborhood. As they passed the city limit, a bit of fear crept into the group's minds.

Despite this, they had already come this far, and no one wanted to be a coward. Even still, Misty clung to Paul's arm, Dawn and May locked hands, and Barry and Kenny began walking a little closer together, just to be safe.

Gary and Ash continued to walk deeper into Pallet Town, seeming to be unbothered by the bad neighborhood that surrounded them. It made sense, the three boys in the group supposed, as they knew that Ash, if not Gary as well, lived in the town. After all, they'd came up from the city every morning. They took a few turns before finally arriving at their destination. It had been a pretty long walk, taking them about two and a half miles from the school grounds in Southern Viridian.

Seeing that they had arrived at their destination, the group hid behind some shrubbery that accented the fence surrounding the building. They had been so concerned with not being seen, that no one had actually gotten a good look at the place.

Still having no idea that they were being watched, Gary and Ash walked inside what looked to be an old, large brick building.

Once the boys were inside, the group felt confident enough to come out of hiding so that they could take a look at the structure.

As they got to their feet, the finally got their first real look.

The first thing they noticed was just how run down the structure appeared to be. It was big, but was by no means luxurious. It was clear to see that it wasn't a house, so maybe an apartment building? It wasn't a long shot since Pallet Town had quite a bit of low-income housing available, which was usually associated with apartments.

Wanting to find the true answer, the group looked to an old sign, slightly worn that hung above the double doors the two boys had just recently entered. May, Kenny, Dawn, Barry, and even Misty stood in shock once they processed the writing on the sign. Even Paul's stone cold expression faltered slightly once he realized what this place was. It was Ash's home, if you could even call it that.

Know one knew exactly why they were shocked, there was at the very least a fifty/fifty chance that the stories they'd heard were true. And looking at the building, it was pretty safe to say they were most likely so.

Ash's 'home' was an orphanage.

Barry's level of guilt reached an all time high as he, along with the others, now realized that the story he had heard was most likely true. Either that, or he had lost his parents another way. Whatever the case, one thing was definitely true.

Ash was alone.

May and Dawn's eyes were both beginning to fill with tears as they stared incredulously at the large building in front of them. Knowing full well of how Ash was treated on a daily basis, coupled with the fact that he was an orphan, made the two girls' hearts ache more than they ever had before. His life was so tragic, they just couldn't believe it.

Misty and Kenny, having both recovered from the initial shock, looked over at Paul. In situations like this, he was their rock; they always looked to him when they didn't know what to do or think.

As they looked toward him, they couldn't help but be taken aback by the fact that his expression, had remained mostly unchanged. Despite the initial shock, both Misty and Kenny managed to gain control of their emotions in order to appear more like Paul, and that meant showing very little emotion toward the situation. However, internally, both Kenny and Misty were struggling with this revelation.

"I-I guess... h-he wasn't lying." Barry said, struggling to get his words out clearly.

Paul simply scoffed in irritation, "Just because he lives in an foster home doesn't mean his ridiculous story is true. He could have just made up that story to make his parent's death seem like it actually meant something."

Everyone, even Kenny and Misty, were shocked at just how cold and insensitive Paul's words were. Never had anyone present heard something so apathetic, so horrible; it truly was a disgusting thing to say, and even those closest to the purple haired man could recognize that.

After minutes of painstaking silence, Kenny and Misty forced their minds to accept Paul's thoughts on the situation, at least for the time being; it was much easier to go this route than the alternative.

This didn't at all stifle the guilt that Barry felt or settle the emotions building up in May and Dawn. No matter what the story was, it didn't change the fact that Ash was an orphan.

"There, we found something out. Can we please leave now?" Dawn pleaded, feeling extremely uncomfortable with the situation. She was so overwhelmed with emotion that few stray tears found their way down her face.

"I second that." May said, fairing no better than Dawn as she let tears cascade down her cheeks as well. She couldn't think of a time where she'd felt worse in her life.

"Y-Yeah, we should go." Barry added unconfidently.

"No." Said Paul firmly as Misty cradled his arm tighter as a source of comfort. Even with the revelation the Ash was an orphan, the situation seemed under control for the most part; with his influence, Paul doubted it would change anything.

With this in mind, he decided to push his luck, "We're staying and waiting for a while longer to see if he we can find out anything else. These two pieces of shit actually managed to make me curious."

Paul then turned his attention from the decrepit building to Barry, his eyes shooting daggers at the boy, "And Barry, what the hell is going on with you? You've always loved messing with Ash and Gary, and now you want to leave before we find out anything good? And what's with that look on your face?! You look as dumb as those freaks in there!"

With the way he was acting, Paul almost felt betrayed by Barry. Everything Paul had said was true. He did love to mess with Gary and Ash, but the new revelations were just too much for him to handle all at once, so being here was just serving to make things worse.

"I-I'm sorry Paul, its just-" Barry struggled to find words that would placate his best friend. "I'm just feeling kind of... guilty about all the stuff we've done to them. I mean, it seems like their lives are rough enough without us tormenting them."

Paul looked at his friend in a mixture of shock and anger. With the way himself, Barry, and Kenny had always acted, this was the last thing he expected to hear out of Barry's mouth. Paul couldn't believe that something he himself saw as a minute detail was affecting his friend in such a way. He wasn't going to allow this one little thing change what they did or how they acted in any way.

On impulse, something he acted on much too often, Paul stomped over to Barry, his expression changing to one of great anger as he slapped him across the face with all his might.

After recoiling from the slap, it was Barry's turn to wear the shocked expression. Holding his stinging cheek, he looked at Paul, who was clearly fuming with anger.

"What the hell Pau-." Barry started, but couldn't finish as Paul cut him off.

"Shut the fuck up, Barry! I can't even begin to tell you how ridiculous you're being right now!" Paul nearly screamed. Though, he kept his voice somewhat low, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

Barry knew Paul had a temper and wasn't afraid to hurt others, but now that he was on the receiving end of it, his anger and violence shocked him to his core. He knew by the tone of Paul's voice that he wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise and even if he did, Paul would probably just hit him again to shut him up. He realized immediately he should simply sit back and allow the onslaught to occur.

"Just because he went through something bad doesn't give him the right to act like a freak! They aren't the only one's that've had to go through something in their lives!" Paul screamed at Barry.

His last sentence caught everyone's attention. No one knew anything about Paul's past before he moved to town; It was a part of his life that he never wanted to relive. Anytime the subject of his childhood would come up, Paul would typically get irrationally angry and storm off. It was quickly learned that the past was something not to talk about with him. Though, he may have just now inadvertently gave some sort of hint to his childhood.

Misty was the first to speak after Paul's outburst. Being his girlfriend, it was safe to say thatshe was the most curious.

"Paul?" Misty questioned. Despite knowing the subject was taboo, she felt as if she had to ask; it seemed to really bother him whatever it was, "What did you mean when you said that they weren't the only ones who had to go through something? Did... something happen?"

Paul looked to the ground and then back up at his friends, who now all stood in front of him.

"No. Nothing happened and I didn't mean anything by it...j-just drop it." Paul said quietly, an uncharacteristically low amount of confidence in his voice.

May was ready to question Paul further, mentally preparing for the verbal onslaught she was likely to receive in response. However, Paul was saved from further questioning by the two people he despised most.

Both Ash and Gary appeared from what seemed to be a side entrance to the orphanage in what looked to be old, scraggily workout clothes. They also took note that both boys' wrists were taped up and old MMA gloves adorned their fists.

The group of teens quickly dove behind the same shrubbery they hid behind just minutes earlier. Following the duo with their eyes, they noticed that they seemed to be walking toward what would be considered part of the orphanage's yard.

The ground was paved over and there was a faint outline of the paint that would be familiar on a basketball court. This made sense as a visibly aged, net-less basketball hoop was mounted in the ground nearby. Despite how old and worn the spot seemed, it did provide a lot of open space.

 _"_ _ _What are they doing?"__ Thoughts such as this were floating through the minds of the group as they watched the boys approach the court.

Luckily for them, the group was close enough to where they could hear they boys' conversation.

"We're gonna have to start training harder than ever now, Gary. I know it's just a feeling, but I just really don't want to risk being unprepared." Ash said to Gary, who was walking beside him.

"I know that you're worried about this whole thing, but remember, like I said, I've always got your back." Gary said as he patted Ash on the back and shot him a comforting smile. Ash smiled in response.

"And plus, there's no way that you could be unprepared. I mean, you've been training like this for longer than I'm sure you can remember." Gary stated, both humor and truth evident in his tone.

Laughing to himself and shaking his head, Ash spoke, "Come on Gary, lets get started."

Ash and Gary wasted no time in beginning to stretch. It seemed they had a set routine, indicating that they did this often.

Whilst the two teens were stretching before they started their training session, the group behind the bushes was stunned slightly, not only at the new revelation of something that Ash seemed worried about, but also at seeing either of the two boys smile.

Ash and Gary rarely showed any emotion besides anger and boredom while at school, so seeing them with inviting smiles on their faces was a very strange sight. It almost made the people watching uncomfortable as it was just so unlike how they knew them to be.

"What do you think it is that they're training for?" Barry asked quietly to no one in particular, his eyes never leaving the two men stretching.

No one responded as no one had an answer. Instead, everyone just kept their attention held on Ash and Gary, who seemed to be just finishing up stretching.

Once the stretching was competed, Ash outlined what they'd be doing,"Alright Gary, today we're gonna do a combination of everything we've been learning. We're gonna treat it like a regular MMA match, but we're only going one round. I hope you've been doing some training on your own, because you know I have. So, do you think you'll finally be able to beat me today? Or are we going to have a repeat of last time...and the time before that...and the ti-"

"Hey, I'm getting better! And I practice whenever I can!" Gary cut his friend off, though he knew he should be doing more if he even dreamed of getting to Ash's level. That being said, he was by no definition a slouch in his own right, "I'll beat you one of these days. You can bet your life on that."

"I guess we'll just have to see, now wont we?" Ash responded as he cracked both his knuckles and his neck. Gary did the same before both men bowed toward each other.

"What are they going to do?" Dawn said, intrigued by the two boys in front of her. She thought she knew the answer based on what they'd been saying, but it seemed like such a strange thing to want to do that she needed confirmation.

"Shhh!" Barry exclaimed quietly. He, along with the others were very curious themselves, and it seemed they weren't too far away from seeing if their thoughts were correct.

"Just shut up and watch." Paul spat. He had very little interest in what the two were physically doing, he was mostly concentrating on what they were saying.

Just after the two bowed and touched gloves, Ash removed his shirt, revealing his toned, well muscled body, before taking a vicious step towards his friend, who had opted to keep his shirt on for the up coming fight as it already had no sleeves.

When May saw Ash without his shirt, she blushed like mad; seeing him without thinking about his strange personality was having an effect on her. She couldn't help but think back to what Misty had said earlier.

 _"_ _ _Wow, Ash really is attractive. How could I not have noticed that before?"__ May thought to herself, her blush intensifying as her eyes remained locked on Ash's body.

May was too busy drooling at the sight of Ash to notice Dawn and even Misty, doing the same thing. Paul and Kenny had envious looks, masked with one of disgust and disinterest on their faces. Barry on the other hand, was way too into what they were actually doing to notice anything else. They were fighting mixed martial arts, as they'd said the would be.

Gary started off the match by throwing a vicious fist at Ash's face. He responded by ducking the punch and landing an open handed strike of his own in Gary's gut. He crouched over in pain, but regrouped quickly and smirked.

"Lucky shot." Gary said with a grin before he let out a cough.

"Right...lucky." Ash mocked playfully.

The two then continued to fight, each landing punches and kicks at incredible speeds. From the little they knew on the subject, they could recognize that many of these moves were familiar to those in the sport of mixed martial arts. Staying true to the __mixed__ in MMA, multiple arts, as well as wrestling were being utilized in this match.

The force behind every attack was something to behold, but it was obvious the two were holding back and even pulling punches as to not seriously hurt the other. Even though neither were fighting to the fullest of their abilities, their attacks still had a v _ery_ decent amount power behind them. The match didn't go on for very long, only about four minutes, but that was more than enough time to be completely blown away by their skill.

Despite a valiant effort, it was obvious to everyone watching that Ash had this victory in the bag since the fight had begun.

The group behind the bush was shocked at how fast and powerful both 18 year olds were. Everyone, including Paul, had their mouth's wide open in shock and awe as they watched the incredible display of speed and power.

At this time, they all shared the same thought: if these two could fight like this, why would they take all the abuse that was thrown at them on a daily basis?

It was obvious based on this match that Ash orGary could have easily stopped anyone from attacking them at any time, so why wouldn't they do that after they'd been abused for so long? It didn't make any sense... They all realized quickly that the question may never be answered and decided to simply focus on the men once again.

Ash was winded and noticeably tired. However, Gary looked much more worn down and not long after noticing this, he toppled over in exhaustion.

"Nice...job...Gary" Ash said between breaths, "That... was easily...the best you have ever fought against me." He did his best to regain his breath quickly and looked toward Gary, who still lay on the ground in pain and exhaustion.

Gary simply grunted in response whilst breathing very heavily. The only thing he could manage to do to show his thanks was shoot his friend a weak thumbs up, which caused Ash to chuckle.

Ash let his best friend lay on the ground for a few more minutes, enough time to get him breathing regularly again. He then helped Gary to his feet and gave him a pat on the back.

"That's enough of this type of training for today. I know it wasn't long, but it is my birthday so I want to keep it light. We also still have to do our pushups and ab exercises later, and those are exhausting." Ash said, "We should head inside and get cleaned up before I have to make dinner for everyone."

Both Gary and Ash were drenching in sweat, even after only four minutes of actual activity, so Gary wasted no time in agreeing. Not long after, both started off towards the side door of the orphanage.

However, the two boys halted as they heard a noise coming from just beyond the fence of the building. It sounded like a twig snapping, as if someone had stepped on it. The sound had come from behind the bush that separated the basketball court from the sidewalk.

The sound was caused by May shifting around in her crouched position to get a better look at the two teens. Once she heard the twig snap, she knew that she'd screwed up...big time. Glares were shot at her from every direction as they noticed Ash and Gary stop walking and stare towards their position.

"Ash." Gary began cautiously, "I know what your thinking, but it was probably just a squirrel or something. Come on, lets head inside and get cleaned up, like you said."

Ash hesitantly agreed and followed Gary inside, though, his eye didn't leave the spot of the sound the entire way to the door. Once the door shut behind they two, the whole group sighed in relief, glad that they didn't get caught. This was short lived, however, as Ash rushed back outside, shouting, his voice full of force and authority.

"If you're out there, know this, I will be ready for you. Don't think whatever you have planned for me will be easy... I'll be waiting." He then turned back and headed towards the door, his face painted with anger and determination.

The group took a few minutes to regain their composure after the second scare of almost being caught. As they calmed down, most expressed another look of confusion on their faces at what Ash had just said. That seemed to be happening a lot on this day.

May and Dawn couldn't seem to handle all the information that had been revealed to them today and once again now started crying quietly. The two girls definitely weren't cry babies, this was just so shocking that it must have sent them over the edge.

Barry saw this and figured that they were overwhelmed at what had been revealed, what they'd seen and heard. He'd never really been one to do these kinds of things, but with the unfamiliar feeling of guilt that plagued him, he did his best to comfort the two girls.

May and Dawn were confused when they felt Barry place a hand on their shoulders in an attempt to comfort them as it wasn't exactly like him. They were hesitant at first to accept this, not being used to this kind of action from him, but after realizing he wasn't hitting on them or harboring any intent other than trying to comfort them, they began crying into the boy's shoulders.

Kenny simply stared blankly, obviously lost in thought, processing what today had revealed. Misty was just as, if not more confused than everyone else. She felt as if she were about to lose control of her emotions so, quickly, she turned to Paul, her rock.

Not even noticing his girlfriend at first, Paul simply stared straight ahead, a look of what seemed to be concentration adorning his face; he too was trying to piece together everything they'd seen and heard. It was a few seconds before he noticed Misty staring at him. Seeing the obvious distress in not only her eyes, but everyone else's as well, he began to speak to the whole group in an attempt to calm them down.

To calm __himself__ down.

"This was a huge waste of time. We might as well just forget everything that happened here because the only things we got from this were more questions. And it's not hard to see you guys aren't exactly handling this very well." Paul stated plainly, capturing the attention of all of his companions. He knew he had to work quickly if he didn't want things to change; he already regretted deciding to stick around when the others'd first asked to leave.

Dawn and May slowly gained control of their emotions after hearing what Paul had said and removed themselves from Barry's shoulders with a shocked, upset look on their faces that matched those of both Barry's and Kenny's. It had been Paul's idea to follow Ash in the first place and yet, he now just wanted to forget about everything they heard? Everything they saw?

May, Dawn, and more recently, Barry, had been hoping that this event might change how Paul acted towards both Ash and Gary, but with what Paul just said, they knew that this would definitely not be the case.

Misty, who would never question Paul, quickly nodded her head in agreement. Kenny did the same as he never dreamed of doubting his best friend, even if he had been slightly hesitant first. Again, it was much easier for him to follow someone else's discretion than deciding for himself.

"How can you say that?" May questioned, feeling a mixture of overwhelming confusion and anger, "After everything we've seen and heard, you're just going to go back to treating them like you did before? How can you do that knowing what we know now?! You don't need to make their lives more miserable than they already are!"

May realized that her last sentence sounded extremely hurtful and rude, causing more guilt to flutter through her body. Despite that, she knew it needed to be said; it was true after all.

"Like I said." Paul responded calmly, but forcefully, "We forget what we heard here and act like it never happened. What we've found out and what new questions came out of this aren't important. We will simply go back to they way things were. It's as simple as that."

"Yeah May, calm down. If Paul says we should just forget about it, then that's what we'll do." Misty said smugly before claiming Paul's left arm. It didn't take long for Kenny to wordlessly agree with Paul as well by moving to stand by Paul.

The scene quickly turned into a staring match, with Paul, Misty and Kenny on one side and May, Dawn, and Barry on the other, the latter three all standing with looks of uneasiness and uncertainty plastered on their faces.

Barry had never gone against Paul's word before, not ever. But now, the guilt he was feeling seemed to be enough to have him question his leader for the first time. Although they hadn't learned the reason why, they had discovered that Ash's parents were indeed dead, and they had no reason not to believe Gary's story as well. These thoughts seemed to be clouding the others that might have been circling in his head; Barry had officially been pushed over the edge.

"How can we just forget about something like this? This changes everything! I don't think I can forget what I saw today, even if I wanted to!" Barry said timidly at first, but with confidence and anger slowly rising throughout his speech.

Paul could only listen, shocked that the person he considered one of his closest friends would go against his word. It had been a long time since somebody other than May or Dawn had done that.

And he didn't like it.

He wouldn't stand for this.

"There are too many questions to be answered! You saw those two fighting. By the looks of it, either one of them could probably beat all three of us in a fight at the same time! But they put up with us and never retaliate! Aren't you at all curious as to why that is!? Because I sure as hell am!" Barry exclaimed.

Everyone, Paul included, were also curious about this. Both Ash and Gary appeared to be very skilled fighters and yet, when they were harassed or beat up, they would never fight back. Not once had any of them seen or even heard of them retaliating.

"And who do you think he was talking to when he came back outside?" At this point, Barry couldn't help but vocalize everything that was circling in his mind, "None of this makes any sense. I need some answ-"

"ENOUGH!" Paul barked angrily. "If you're really that curious, then go find out yourself! If you're that desperate to learn more about that son of a bitch and his stupid little friend then go right ahead. But know this, if that's your choice, then our friendship is over."

Barry was shocked at Paul's harsh words, to say the least. He knew that Paul was cold and insensitive, but he never expected something like this to come out of his mouth. They had been best friends for years and yet, he was willing to just throw it all away for something like this?

Barry opened his mouth to retort, but found no words. Giving up on the prospect of an immediate response, Barry allowed himself to think for a moment. Paul loudly tapped his foot, waiting impatiently for some sort of response.

Barry felt strongly about his opinion on the matter. He truly did feel terrible about everything and the questions circling his mind were just begging for answers. But ultimately, he didn't want to lose his best friend...

…or his level of popularity for that matter.

"Y-You're right. I'm sorry for doubting you and arguing about it. I won't bring it up again. I'll do as you said and forget today even happened." Barry said, sounding absolutely defeated.

"That's what I thought. So is everyone clear about the situation?" Paul asked forcefully.

Everyone nodded their head, including May and Dawn, who shared a similar opinion to Barry. That being said, after seeing Paul's outburst, they feared speaking their minds. Not because thy were afraid of losing their friendship, but because of how unpredictable Paul was. It was horrible to think about, but they honestly didn't know what he would do if they disagreed openly.

"Good. Now everyone go home and remember, this never happened." Paul said before turning around and beginning his trek home. Barry and Kenny followed Paul as they lived in the same neighborhood. Misty also followed, her plans of hanging out with her boyfriend still fresh in her mind.

May and Dawn watched as their friends began their trek back to Viridian. The two girls stood stationary for a while.

"...We should probably get going." Dawn stated, receiving a head nod in response. Luckily for them, Both May and Dawn lived in the same neighborhood in West Viridian. This was one of the many factors that'd contributed to the development of two girls' unbreakable friendship.

With that said, the two began walking. Despite wanting to put everything behind them from that day, at least for a while, they would have to walk past the orphanage to get on route to their homes. As much as they just wanted to clear their minds for the time being, the large brick building prevented it.

The two girls slowly walked past the foster home, both pairs of eyes locked on the old brick that made up the building. They hadn't managed to get past more than half of the building when they faintly heard the newly familiar sound of Gary's voice through what they noticed to be an open window.

With everything still fresh in their minds, the two girls couldn't resist listening in on their conversation and inched closer to the window. Peering inside, they saw what looked to be a fairly large kitchen.

Immediately, the girls noticed Gary sitting on the counter, biting into an apple. Their eyes drifted around the room until they landed on Ash, who appeared to be preparing food. Various pots and pans were sitting on heated stoves and a bunch of different ingredients littered the counter.

"So Ash, you're sure its cool that I stay here for a couple days? My dad is in town and I am really not in the mood to see him right now... or ever for that matter." Gary mumbled as he rubbed the familiar scar on his arm, reminding him of some of the more terrible moments from his past.

"Of course, Gary. You know you're always welcome to stay with me. But I get the bed, that couch is ridiculously uncomfortable...so it's all yours!" Ash responded happily.

Gary looked defeated, but with confidence filling his chest, he decided to push his luck, "But I'm your guest. Aren't I supposed to be getting special treatment?"

"Ha. Yeah right. I may be a nice guy, but I'm not that nice." Ash scoffed, looking at Gary with a smirk. Gary only sighed in response before he continued the conversation.

"You know, you still haven't told me why you do this every night. I mean, it's been years." Gary said, obviously referring to why he was preparing such a large amount of food; what he was preparing could easily feed 40 people.

"Gary, I __have__ told you. You just have the memory of a goldfish..." Ash stated incredulously, earning an confused look from his friend.

Sighing, he set down the knife he was using to chop vegetables and turned to face his friend, his hands on the counter behind him as he spoke, "After the old advisor left, a replacement was sent here. He turned out to be a lazy jerk who refused to do anything for any of the kids here. And before you say anything, I've tried talking to him about. He just refuses to listen. So for the past 4 years, I've been the one making the meals for all the kids here, doing all the duties that the director should be doing. Obviously they don't know that. I don't want these kids getting attached to me for... you know..." Gary nodded in understanding.

"But don't you ever wish you could just get a little recognition, a bit of praise for what you do?" Gary quizzed curiously.

"While it would be nice every once in a while, I don't need recognition for what I'm doing. I'm just doing what's right. Knowing that these younger kids won't have to go a single day hungry is enough for me." Ash responded with a warm smile before turning back to the stove.

"Man, I really wish the rest of the world got to see this side of you. It really would be a better place if it did.." Gary said sincerely. Ash knew the same was true of Gary as well. Had he been the one in this situation, Ash was confident Gary would be doing the same thing.

"Now, don't go getting all sentimental on me. It's not like you at all and it's kind of freaking me out." Gary laughed at the uncomfortable look on Ash's face.

Ash let out a sigh and turned around to face Gary once again before continuing.

"I wish I could be like this all the time too, but some things are more important than what we want." Ash explained what Gary already knew, a sad smile on his face.

Just then, a somewhat fat man entered the kitchen. He looked to be in his early to mid 40's, about 5'9" with dark, thinning, greasy slicked back hair. His outfit of choice most days, including this one, was a leather jacket with a wife beater underneath.

"What are you doin'! Stop messin' around, the kids are starvin' in there. If they don't get some food soon, they might start to think less of their favorite advisor." Tony spat his words toward Ash, ending his short speech with a smirk of arrogance while adjusting an imaginary tie on his neck.

Ash hated to say it, but it was true. To everyone except himself, Tony seemed to be the perfect advisor. It appeared to everyone else that he was the one to always fix things around the building, the one who would always make at least semi-tasty food for every meal.

Obviously, they weren't aware that all of these tasks were always done by Ash. Because of that, Tony got all the recognition for the acts. And even though it was a complete fallacy, he enjoyed being admired by the kids.

"Well then, why don't you cook for them every once in a while. I mean it is __your__ job." Ash snapped back at Tony. Gary couldn't help but let out a laugh when he saw Tony's expression change from one of annoyance to one of fear that he might actually have to work.

Tony's voice softened before he spoke again. "...Could you just hurry up?"

"Now what's the magic word?" Ash asked in a sing song voice, obviously messing with Tony.

Tony sighed angrily and spoke with a forced voice, "Please?"

"Sure. Now was that so hard? The chicken and vegetables will be done in five minutes, so come back then to serve the kids." Ash told the greasy man.

Tony nodded, then began his walk out the door to address the children in the dinning room. While he was walking, he mumbled something bad about Ash under his breath so that only he could hear. He chuckled at his own words as the door closed behind him.

Gary turned and looked at Ash. "God, I hate that guy. Why haven't you tried to get him replaced?"

"I have... more times than I can count, but whenever a higher up comes to see how Tony is doing, he suddenly turns into a super advisor. I think that's the only time he actually does his job. I will say this though, it's nice not having to do all the work for a few days." Ash mentioned, fondly remembering his free days.

"It also doesn't help that all the kids love him so much. Because they think it's him doing all of this stuff for them, they treat him kind of like a parent or a sibling of some kind. And even if it is a complete ass like Tony, at least the kids get to feel as if they have some sort of family before they hopefully get adopted. And besides, I'm okay as long as things get done for the kids, even if the person doing those things has to be me." Ash finished.

Gary looked at Ash, his eyes full of admiration. He had always been the kind of person that would perform such selfless acts, but it still blew his mind just how much he was willing to put up with. Even with his own higher than normal level of selflessness, this seemed extreme to him. Though since he'd met Ash, Gary had tried his best to become more like him in that way, and was doing very well with that thus far.

Gary knew how much the world would love Ash if they ever got a chance to _r_ _ _eally__ meet him, but this was simply not possible given the circumstances. The one thing Gary wished Ash would allow himself was at least __some__ praise for the great things he does. Not once in his life had his actions ever received any recognition...

Until now, that is.

As the whole situation unfolded in the kitchen, two girls had witnessed the whole thing from where they were peering through an open window. May and Dawn were astounded by what they had seen and heard about Ash, just adding more to they boy's mystery. He was a completely different person than what they they thought. It was more than confusing.

He was an enigma before this, but now that people were actually taking the time to question who he was, his mystery just seemed to become greater. Though, one question circled their minds more than any others:

Why isn't he like this all the time?

Recognizing there would not be an answer presented to them anytime soon, they did there best to drop it from their minds. However, even if they were able to get this thought out of their heads, which they doubted they'd be able to, they were still so unsure about so many things.

But there was one thing that they were both sure of. No matter what Paul had said, neither of them would forget this day.

Not ever.

* * *

 ** **A/N: And there it is, chapter 2 of "Facade"! Some interesting developments came this chapter. Paul and his friends finally caught a glimpse of Ash and Gary's true selves, with May and Dawn getting an even more extreme dose.****

 ** **So why do Ash and Gary act the way they do? Why are their private lives so much different than who they are in public? Who was Ash talking to when he was shouting at what seemed to be nothing? Why is Paul such a huge asshole?****

 ** **All of these questions and more will be answered in a future update of "Facade"!****

 ** **I Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and stick around to see where the story will go. As I said before, this**** ** _ **will**_** ** _ _ **not**__** ** __** ** **be a high school fic for the whole story. Most of the story will take place somewhere else. I can't say where as it could ruin the surprise.****

 ** **Please make sure to review or send me a PM of what you thought of the chapter. If you enjoyed and/or want to see where this story is going then please give this story a follow. I look forward to seeing you guys in the next chapter, which should be coming out in just a couple of days after this one.****

 ** **See Ya!****


	3. A Plan & A History

****A/N: Hey guys, and welcome to chapter 3 of "Facade"! Last chapter, Paul's group got a taste of what Ash and Gary are really like, and it confused them to no end. Especially May and Dawn, who heard more than anyone else. How will they all react? Will everybody end up listening to Paul, or will the recent revelations change everything? Find out here!****

 ** **BTW, I made the mistake of starting this story out with an M rating. With "A Trial of Will" I started it out as T and then changed it when something truly "M" rated happened. This allows those people who when searching for a fic don't turn on the all ratings setting to get a chance to find the story. Anyway, this story will become rated "M" when darker themes enter the fray, which isn't too far away from now.****

 ** **Sorry, I'll stop :). Enjoy the chapter everyone!****

* * *

 **Serena: 18**

* * *

 _"The thing about perspective-changing events is that they usually don't announce themselves as such."_

 _\- Andrea Goeglein_

* * *

Facade

May and Dawn watched silently as Ash and Gary slipped out of the kitchen, making sure that the kids in the dinning room would not see them. After watching them leave, the two girls slowly moved away from the window and made their way onto the sidewalk. In all honesty, they were surprised their brain even still had the capability to make their legs move with everything going on within it.

Both women were beyond stunned by what they'd just witnessed, even more so than they had been earlier, something they didn't think would've been possible. Even though they would never never partake in the harassment of the boys, both May and Dawn did sometimes find themselves questioning why they acted as they did, why they were so cold and distant. Without even realizing it, neither girl was sure what kind of people Gary and Ash were, but now they knew...

And it confused the hell out of them.

They began their trek back to their houses in silence, both girls remaining lost in their thoughts. Luckily for both May and Dawn, their neighborhood was about a mile closer to their current location than the school and Misty's house, so the return trip wasn't nearly as long as the original.

The walk was shrouded in silence the entire way, the only sounds being the two girls' footsteps and their steady intakes of breath. Without even realizing it, they'd made it to the yard of May's house. The brunette wasted no time in walking up her driveway and into her home, not even taking the time to say goodbye to Dawn.

Seeing May's retreating figure, Dawn broke out of her thoughts and rushed after her into her house, knowing that the two needed to talk. As the girls entered the house, they were kindly greeted by May's mother, who was baking in the kitchen, something she loved to do.

"Hey girls! How was your day?" Mrs. Maple asked, a large grin on her face from the sight of seeing her daughter and her best friend.

Dawn forced a smile and responded with a simple 'hello'' while May ignored her mother, not even bothering to look up from the floor. She continued walking the path that would lead her up to her room.

Mrs. Maple instantly became both confused and concerned as soon as she noticed how her daughter had failed to acknowledge her. This was definitely not like May; she always made it a point to be polite and respectful.

May and her mother were extremely close and May usually felt comfortable telling her just about anything... But this seemed different somehow. She didn't want to talk about this with her mother, but couldn't think of a good reason as to why.

"May?" Her mother hoped to get her daughter's attention before she left the kitchen. When she was ignored again, the young mother became slightly angry.

"Maylene Maple! Get back here this instant!" May's mother commanded, shocking her daughter out of her trance-like state.

"Huh? Oh, hi mom." May turned around and said with a forced smile, doing her best to feign happiness. Despite her attempt, it was obvious that she was failing at it.

"May, why did you ignore me when you walked in the door? You know how rude that is." Mrs. Maple scolded her daughter in a calm, motherly tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I guess I was just lost in my thoughts." May responded.

"What's on your mind sweetie?" Mrs. Maple questioned whilst pulling out chairs for both Dawn and May to sit in before taking a seat herself. May, however, didn't move from where she was standing. Dawn, seeing this, refrained from taking the offered seat as well.

"Mom, I'm sorry but if it's okay with you, I would really rather not talk about it. Plus, me and Dawn have a bunch of homework we have to get done and it's already kind of late." May said, only just realizing that Dawn had followed her into her house.

Mrs. Maple looked puzzled; May had always shared her problems with her in the past. Despite this, she decided to respect her privacy and didn't press on any further. "Ok sweetie, but know that I'm always here if you want to talk."

May smiled genuinely for just a second and nodded at her mother before turning away and continuing towards her room. While Mrs. Maple's mind was focused solely on the concern she had for her daughter, all May could think about was how guilty she felt that she had a mother to talk to while others didn't. She knew it was irrational, but it was just the kind of person she was. Maybe that was the reason she didn't want to talk about this.

Only looking back for a moment, May motioned for Dawn to follow her upstairs to her bedroom. She started after her friend, only to be stopped by the soft grip of May's mother.

Dawn was over at May's house so often that she considered Mrs. Maple to be like a second mother to her, so with the same respect she would hold for her own mother, she stopped and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you know what's wrong with May, dear?" May's mother asked, obviously concerned for her daughter's well being.

Dawn didn't exactly know how to respond. If May wanted her mother to know about what was going on, then she should be the one to tell her, not her.

"Mrs. Maple, we're all just a bit confused about something that happened today, but I'm sure May will tell you about it when she's ready." Dawn said.

Mrs. Maple was less than content with the response, but she knew Dawn was right about May. "Okay dear, you're right. Just make sure you help her with whatever it is she's going through. And by the way, how many times have I had to tell you to call me Caroline?"

"Sorry Caroline, just a bit used to having to call people Mr. and Mrs. after being at school all day." Dawn responded sheepishly.

Caroline laughed at the explanation and motioned for Dawn to go catch up to May. Dawn smiled and made her way towards the stairs and eventually, to May's room.

The Maple household was big, there were no other way to describe it. May's father Norman, was a very successful surgeon, yielding quite a bit of money each year. She admired the sheer size of the house for what had to be the thousandth time.

Dawn quickly passed by a messy room with an open door. Max's room, May's brother, she knew. From the quick glimpse she got, it seemed Max was inside playing video games, something she was grateful for.

It seemed that Max had to develop a weird crush on Dawn a few years ago. It really was kind of creepy to the bluenette.

Dawn shook the thoughts out of her mind as she reached May's room.

Dawn opened the door to find May sitting on her bed, staring absentmindedly at the floor. Dawn was just as confused as May but for some reason, she seemed to be slightly more in her head than herself.

"May?" Dawn asked, uncertain about what to say once her friend responded.

May looked up at Dawn, immediately taking notice of the concerned look that was present on her face.

"Dawn, I'm fine, really." May responded along with a genuine smile. "This is just a lot to take in. I mean, no one knew anything about Ash or Gary and that, along with how they act, made them the freaks of the school, the two people that everybody loved to torment. Now that we know who they are, who they __really__ are, I just can't understand why they act the way they do... But that shouldn't even matter anyway. I mean, just because they don't act like everyone else..." May paused.

Dawn noticed as May continued speaking, her voice steadily rose in anger. She didn't like the fact that anyone got treated poorly, just as May didn't, but in a way, she'd begrudgingly accepted that it was something that couldn't be helped, that it was just part of high school.

"May, where are you going with this?" Dawn asked, although she already had an idea in her head. She knew May very well after all.

May sighed, exhaling some of the anger she was feeling. This was short lived however as she continued speaking, the frustration returning to her voice.

"... Just because they don't act like everyone else doesn't mean that they deserve to be tortured by the entire school!" May screamed. She then quieted her voice, becoming almost timid, "And the worst part is, our friends are the one's leading the charge... and they don't even care!" May finished with tears in her eyes as the guilt she was feeling rose to astronomical levels.

Dawn just looked on with a face full of guilt and understanding. She said nothing, allowing May to continue.

"Even after all we learned today, about what they've been through... their lives, Paul, Misty, and the others still refuse to just let them be!" May said, her walls finally breaking completely, tears poring down her face.

Dawn had known May since the first day of pre-school, so she knew just how emotional she could get. Dawn liked to think that she was a bit stronger emotionally than her friend but right now, she felt as terrible as May did as evident by her allowing a few tears of her own to fall.

May had just discovered the true people that were Gary and Ash, something that made the fact that both of them had been tortured for years by those she called her friends even worse.

As Dawn struggled to find something to say to make her friend feel better, May began to think of what she herself could do to redeem herself and her friends to the boy with such a kind heart and his only friend.

But as much as she was angry at Misty, Paul, Kenny, and even Barry, whom she could tell felt guilty as well, she couldn't simply allow their friendship to just disappear. These were relationships they had made long ago and they didn't want them to end just like that, save for Paul's. No, the much better option would be getting them to change...to accept.

Except for Paul. They could both do without Paul.

It would take time, but May desperately held onto the little confidence she had that it would end up okay.

Both girls continued to sit in silence as their tears slowly began to subside. Eventually, May'd had enough of sulking. If her mind is going to be completely overtaken by these thoughts, she thought she might as well try and figure out some of the unanswered questions that circled in her head. She thought a second opinion would be helpful.

"... Do you think the stories...err, what they've been through, is true? I mean, it's obvious now that neither really... have anybody. But, I guess it's possible that something else caused that...Maybe?" May quizzed, despite the fact that she already had an answer already in her head.

"I do." Dawn said without hesitation. "What reason would they have for lying to each other when they thought that there was no one else around? I can definitely see the truth in Gary's story and as for Ash's... I mean, I have such a hard time picturing a something so horrible to actually be true, but like I said, he had no reason to lie, and he's obviously an orphan. So... what reason do we have not believe it?"

May was pleased with her answer, "I was thinking the same thing. But I still have so many questions, it feels like my head is going to explode."

"How could no one have ever found out about his past, and what reason does he have to keep it hidden when it could be his ticket to a better life? A life free from harassment...from bullies. I understand that it must be hard to talk about, but how could no one have ever found out after ten years? Compassion and pity are strong emotions. Strong enough to have stopped at least some of the bullying." Dawn questioned, not really expecting an answer.

Although she agreed completely, May didn't have an answer.

Even though May had hardly ever spoken to Ash, she felt for some reason that what she was about to say was true, "I don't think Ash wants pity, he's strong enough without it."

Dawn listened intently, a bit confused by the confidence in her friend'd voice; they didn't know the two boys at all, and yet May was speaking with such certainty about the raven haired man.

Seeing her friend's confusion, May elaborated, "Think about it, Ash's parents were murdered... and right in front of him no less! That should seriously mess a person up, but we know that he didn't let that event completely overtake his life and turn him cold. Even though he acts that way in public, we found out today that he still has a warm side, that the Ash we see on a daily basis isn't who he really is. That's what I mean when I say that he's too strong to need pity from others."

"Speaking of strong, did you see Ash and Gary fighting?!" Dawn exclaimed, a look of awe overtaking her face as she recalled the memory.

Dawn had taken what May said in, agreeing with it wholeheartedly. She would have tried to stay on topic, but she really wanted to make the subject of the boys less depressing.

Plus, both girls actually enjoyed the sport of MMA, they had to since Paul, Kenny and Barry were watching and talking about it all the time, even having taken a class or two of jujitsu. It also helped that both girls partook in kickboxing, so they could truly appreciate what they'd seen.

"I mean, they looked like pros! Remember when Paul made all of us go watch him Kenny and Barry when they tried doing Brazilian jujitsu They never did listen to the instructors, that's probably why they were kicked out before their first session even ended. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, they would be no match for Ash or Gary if they fought like they did earlier today." Dawn finished.

May blushed at the memory of seeing Ash training with Gary. She tried to hide it by quickly shielding her face with her hands. Despite her quick reaction to the heat rising on her face, Dawn managed to see the red on Mays cheeks and got slightly red-faced herself, knowing what May was picturing.

"Hey, May..." Dawn giggled, deciding to poke a little fun at her friend, despite her own embarrassment, "What Misty said earlier... was totally true."

Both May and Dawn's blushes deepened before the two broke out into laughter.

"Yeah, I'll agree with you there. I mean, Ash really is attractive, once you get past that personality he puts on in publ-" May was cut off before she could finish speaking.

"Oh come on, just say it, May! He's totally hot!" Dawn gushed.

May smiled and gave into her friend's demand, "Okay, yeah, he's totally hot."

"Not to take anything away from Ash, but I think he's a little more your style..." Dawn said; her blush returning. "Gary on the other hand... Also very easy on the eyes. Probably more my style anyways..."

May raised an eyebrow as she watched her friend blush. She let a smirk find its way to her lips before responding, "For sure, he's definitely good looking too."

"Yeah...but Ash...did you see that body? I mean damn! It's like he's straight out of one of those magazines you're always ogling over!" Dawn exclaimed, not being able to get through the sentence without giggling.

Seeing her friend's shock and embarrassment, her giggles turned into laughter; her reaction had been just what she'd suspected it would be. Dawn loved picking on May's innocence.

"Oh May, quit looking all embarrassed about it, I like looking at hot guys too. It's nothing to be ashamed of. But who needs magazines when you can have something twenty times better in real life!" Dawn said, hoping to finally break May out of her sexual shell.

May played with the end of her hair, something she did when she was uncomfortable. However, her feelings were betrayed by the stupid smile that grew on her face.

May locked eyes with Dawn and both girls burst out laughing once again. The conversation they'd just had seemed so ridiculous to both of them. No actual feelings existed for the boys, that would be ridiculous with how little they knew them; it was more they were very intrigued by their mystery and thought them to be very attractive. And just because this was true didn't mean that they couldn't appreciate physical appearances. It was a common thing for both sexes to do after all.

After a while of lighthearted joking, their faces became plastered with puzzled looks as the seriousness from the beginning of the conversation jumped back into the forefront of their minds.

"So... where do we go from here?" Dawn asked May, only half expecting an answer.

"Well...We need to talk some sense into that asshole Paul and the others about how to treat people. Also, I would like to find out more about Ash and Gary, maybe get some questions answered." May spoke out.

"And how do you suppose we do either of those things? Remember, Paul basically banned talking about what happened today. I know we've never been the type to actually listen to that idiot, but he __is__ unpredictable and borderline unstable. He's really scary when he wants to be." Dawn mentioned. When Paul snapped, he struck fear into almost everyone.

"As for dealing with Paul..I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, but as for the latter, I know exactly what we're going to do." May said, a smirk of determination appearing on her face.

"And what's that?" Dawn quizzed.

"Isn't it obvious, we become their friends! That way, we'll get to know all about them!" May said with a hopeful smile. Dawn just looked on, not convinced that this idea would work. Although these two knew what Ash and Gary were really like, no one else did. It was also blatantly obvious that they weren't very interested in making any new friends.

"May... I don't think that will be as easy as you think. I mean, today was probably only the second time I've heard either of them even say a word, and the first time I've ever heard them say more than a sentence. Hell, it was even the first time I've ever even seen them smile!" Dawn explained the issue to May.

"I know Dawn, but we have to at least try. No one deserves to go through life like they do. They need people that they can count on besides each other. Plus, we are the only one's who have seen who those two __really__ are. If they would just act that way in school, everyone would love them, I'm sure of it! I think they just need a bit of a push out of their shells, and we're going to be the one's to give it to them!" May exclaimed, bursting with determination and excitement.

Dawn seemed hesitant at first, but May's confidence was starting to seep into her brain, her friends optimism infecting her with positivity. With just their first glance at the real Ash and Gary, they really did seem like the kind of people that anyone would be lucky to be friends with, at least when they acted as they did earlier in the day.

Dawn quickly became excited at the prospect of helping the two boys break out of their comfort zones in order to not only make a couple of new friends, which was the main goal of this, but also to ease some of the guilt that she felt for letting the harassment at the hands of her friends go on as long as it had.

Dawn always admired how much May desired to help others. She was always helping other people study, helping them out of a jam or doing something else for someone. This was a trait Dawn had gradually began to pick up over the years, and this provided an opportunity for both of them to practice it.

"Alright, I'm in!" Dawn said, now sporting a confident smile of her own.

"That a girl! This is going to be great, I can just tell!" May exclaimed excitedly.

At that moment, both Dawn and May were so positive that they would be able to do this, to help these boys. They both sat in silence for a while, trying to think of how to go about beginning their plan. This proved difficult however, as unanswered questions about the two boys circled their minds, dawn's more so than May's. One stuck out especially in her mind.

"Hey May?" Dawn said, snapping May back to a more somber reality, "There's one more thing I want to ask before I go, just in case maybe you have an idea."

"Okay, what is it?" May questioned, intrigued.

"There has to be a reason they train so hard, right? They said something about it earlier. What could possibly be out there that motivates Ash and Gary to work as hard as they do? I mean whatever it is, it actually seems to scare Ash, and he doesn't seem like the kind of person that gets scared too easily." Dawn explained, a concerned look adorning her face. Neither Ash nor Gary were the type of people that worried about too many things, that was easy to tell by just looking at them.

May didn't know what to say. At first, it imply appeared that they were doing this just to stay in shape, but their words from earlier in the day told them otherwise. There __was__ a tangible reason as to why the worked so hard, but she didn't have the faintest idea as to what that thing could be.

"I don't know. Not now at least, and I'm not sure if I ever will, but what I am sure of is that those two deserve a chance. A chance that we're going to give them." May responded firmly.

May knew focusing on what they didn't know would just serve to drive them mad. That was the reason why she shifted the conversation away from Dawn's question.

Dawn seemed satisfied with the answer for the time being; she didn't expect May to know anymore than herself anyways. The two chatted for a bit longer before Dawn said her goodbyes and left to return to her own home.

With Dawn gone, May sat at her desk in her room, simply thinking about everything. Thinking of how she was going to help Ash, whom she'd admittedly taken a particular interest in, show the world who he truly was. She knew it wouldn't be easy, because for some odd reason, neither boy wanted anyone to know who they really were. Despite the challenges she knew were to come, she felt confident that she would succeed; with her and Dawn working together, victory was all but certain.

May smiled as she shifted from her desk to her bed, finally allowing the mental exhaustion she felt overtake her. It was still kind of early to be going to bed, only being around 8 o clock, but May was completely wiped. Not long after changing out of her clothes and into something more comfortable, she sprawled out on her bed, already beginning to feel sleep overtake her.

 _"_ _ _Gary...Ash"__ May spoke in her mind, knowing these would be her last thoughts before sleep would claim her, _ _"I'm going to help you. I promise, things will get better. You'll have nothing to worry about because your future is bright, I just know it."__

With that thought in mind, May drifted peacefully off to sleep.

* * *

Ash woke up to the obnoxious sound of his alarm clock, still in his room at the orphanage. It was a small, plain room with simple old, stained white painted walls, a bed, a couch, and a miniature refrigerator. A thing that most would consider odd is how one corner of the small room was designated simply for Ash's large collection of books.

Although he never made an effort in school, he was definitely still a fairly bright person. Whether it be the lack of television, other forms of entertainment, or something else all together, he wasn't sure, but whatever the reason, Ash loved to read.

Ash enjoyed reading more than most everything else, save for training, because they gave him a way to momentarily escape from his own struggles. To throw himself into a world where everything was perfect. Everything he loved about books could come down to one simple thing:

They provided a much needed break from his reality.

Sitting up in his bed, Ash allowed his tired eyes to move around his room. First, his eyes landed down near his feet, where a yellow bundle of fur had spent the night. He smiled at his little buddy as the pokemon stirred awake.

At least in one aspect of his life, Ash felt very lucky. Not many people owned the mysterious creatures known as pokemon. They were fairly rare and being legally allowed to own one was a long, difficult, and not to mention _expensive,_ process. This was one of the reasons Pikachu wasn't exactly... _ _legally__ owned by Ash, thus the reason he had to stay in Ash's room most of the time.

These creatures had the potential to be deadly, so most people stayed away from them; people always tended to fear what they didn't understand. But others, such as Ash, had been able to befriend them.

That's exactly what so many people failed to understand. Pokemon could become the best of friends to people. All they want is to be loved and treated well.

The Pikachu yawned and performed a large stretch before turning his beady eyes to his friend. Immediately, a small formed on the pokemon's face and he jumped into Ash's arms, who caught him and rubbed him affectionately.

"Haha, morning buddy." Ash greeted.

"Pika pika pi!" Pikachu exclaimed, which Ash deciphered as a greeting of his own.

As the two sat with each other for a while, Ash couldn't help but reminisce about how himself and Pikachu came to be friends.

* * *

 _ _Flashback (2 Years Ago)__

Ash came across two thugs chasing what looked to be a small yellow creature down an isolated road in eastern Pallet.

Having read about them before, Ash recognized the creature as a Pikachu, a fairly rare pokemon. He was so shocked to see a pokemon like this in real life that he actually froze for a moment. He noticed it looked to be hurt and exhausted...perfect pray for thugs looking to make some money selling him on the black market; pokemon were a prized asset there.

Not wanting to see that happen to this poor pokemon, Ash followed the action. The Pikachu had inadvertently ran down an alley way, effectively trapping himself. Seeing that he'd made such a devastating mistake, he stopped his legs and looked at his pursuers, seeming to have accepted its fate.

The two men approached the small pokemon like vultures, seeming to have no fear that this Pikachu could potentially kill them. Though, because it hadn't shocked them already, they were fairly confident it wouldn't now.

They were correct in that assumption. Because this Pikachu was so young, he hadn't yet learned any real attacks. He was essentially helpless.

Knowing what was to come, Pikachu closed his eyes and waited to be grabbed. He only opened his eyes again when he heard one of the grunts cry out. Trying to figure out what was happening, Pikachu surveyed the situation. It seemed that a boy had come to his rescue, taking out the two grunts with a surprising amount of ease.

Having taken care of the two men, Ash turned his attention to the small, yellow pokemon whom was still stationed up against the wall. Fear and confusion were the two emotions Ash cold see on his face. Even though he'd just saved him, the pokemon was still apprehensive about the boy's intentions.

However, as Ash went down on his knees and smiled warmly, Pikachu slowly inched toward him, not sensing any malicious intent coming from the boy. When they were within touching distance, Ash reached out slowly and gave the creature a few soft pets on the head, which undeniably felt amazing to the pokemon.

"Hey little guy." Ash started, still softly stroking the pokemon, "What are you doing out here?"

Pikachu didn't respond to Ash's question, so Ash paused his petting of the pokemon, which made his attention fall on the young man's face.

"Where are your parents, little guy?" It was easy to tell that this pokemon was just a baby and having read up about pokemon in a book written by pokemon expert Robert Birch, he knew that Pikachu often lived like human families. So the fact this this baby Pikachu was alone was strange.

After the words left his mouth, Pikachu's face dropped immediately, "Pika Pika chu..."

Hearing the sad tone in the pokemon's voice, he knew straight away that his parents weren't around anymore. Hoping to lift the Pikachu's spirits, Ash resumed petting him.

"Looks like you and me are a lot alike," Ash started, slightly confusing the young pokemon, "My parents aren't around anymore either."

Both parties were momentarily silent as various memories flooded their minds. Ash was the one who ended up breaking the silence as an idea popped into his head.

"What do you say you come live with me? I think we could be really great friends." Ash questioned. Having Pikachu around as a friend seemed like something that would definitely better his life, and Ash had few opportunities to do that, so he didn't want to miss this chance.

Pikachu looked up at the boy, surprised by his question. First, he had come to save him and now he wanted to be his friend and live with him? It just wasn't something Pikachu was expecting. Despite that, Pikachu felt as Ash did. So far, he liked this boy, and it would be nice having someone who cared for him.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded happily and jumped into Ash's arms. Ash laughed, elated that Pikachu had warmed up to him so quickly.

After that, Ash had taken care of him, not taking long to tell him abut his life. Pikachu seemed determined to help out with whatever came Ash's way if need be.

Both Ash and Pikachu were happy to say that their assumption was right.

They __are__ _really_ great friends.

 _Flashback_ end

* * *

After fondly remembering how himself and Pikachu became friends, he looked to see if Gary had woken up yet. His eyes stopped as they reached the couch, where Gary was currently asleep in what had to be a very uncomfortable position.

He was in a deep sleep, upside down, with his head on the floor and his feet at a 90 degree angle in the air. Both himself and Pikachu, whom had also come to love Gary, smiled at their friend's goofy antics. Ash then proceeded to get up and attempt to shake Gary awake.

"Gary. We have to go to school, get up." Ash said while shaking Gary's shoulder. Gary simply continued snoring, ignoring his friend's plea. Ash sighed and decided to try to wake him again after he took a shower.

"I'll be back, Pikachu. If Gary wakes up, tell him where I am, okay?" Ash asked politely.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded.

Ash proceeded to take his shower and much to his surprise, Gary was stirring awake on his own just as he finished getting dressed. Typically, Gary was the type of person who could sleep through anything. As a matter of fact, he had. Years ago, he'd slept through a massive storm; while others were evacuating, he was lost in dream land.

Now that he himself was completely ready for the day, Ash was just waiting on Gary, who was currently rubbing the tiredness out of his eyes.

"Dude, you have like 5 minutes to get ready before we have to leave for school." Ash said before biting into an apple he'd just retrieved from the mini-fridge.

"WHAT! WHY DIDN"T YOU WAKE ME EARLIER!" Gary screamed, rushing to his travel bag to get clothes for the day.

"...I tried. You're just the heaviest sleeper of all time." Ash responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Whatever. I'm basically ready anyway." Gary said while getting dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I took a shower to try to calm myself down. Here, smell me!" Gary raised his arm in the air.

"Uh...I'm good." Ash said with a look of disgust on his face. Gary simply shrugged before walking over and petting Pikachu good morning. After putting on deodorant and brushing his teeth, he grabbed his backpack and walked towards the door that would lead them to the hallway of the orphanage.

After giving Pikachu a goodbye, Ash followed behind and the two began their trek toward the school. The walk consisted mostly of Gary talking to his best friend about how he was sure to beat him in one of their sparring matches soon.

Ash listened absentmindedly as he was busy keeping up a serious demeanor and staying alert. Pallet Town wasn't exactly known for being the best or safest place in Kanto and Ash knew that better than anyone. The crime rate in Pallet was obscenely high and infractions of the law happened at all times of the day. Although serious crimes were rare and most of the time, his cautiousness was unneeded, Ash always kept his guard up, just to be safe.

Ash had always been a cautious person when it came to people's safety, always making it his responsibility to be sure that he was always ready for anything. Gary frequently thought that he was overreacting, but he hadn't seen what Ash had. Despite his Dad's problems, Gary's house was located in Southern Viridian. Though, he definitely had seen some terrible things with as often as he stayed with Ash in Pallet; Gary spent much more time in Ash's room than his own.

As he started to run out of taunts about him beating Ash in training, Gary switched over to telling some random story as the two continued their walk to school. Although it was the early morning, a number of people still roamed the streets.

Glancing at all of the strangers, Ash made sure that none of them appeared to pose an immediate threat to Gary or himself. Most of them looked to be harmless, though some did look as if they were hungover or already drunk this early in the morning. Ash sighed as he took in his surroundings for the millionth time; Pallet Town really was a depressing place.

The two then turned down an empty street witch featured a long row of apartments. In between two separate apartment buildings, sat an ally that was a well known crime hot spot. Muggings, robberies, even black market dealings were common place on this street, especially in the secrecy the dark alley provided. Whenever he arrived at this part of the trek, Ash always made sure that he was on high alert.

In rarer cases, both Ash and Gary had heard of murders taking place around here, almost always having something to do with illicit items or services or the rare pokemon that inhabited parts of the world.

Although Gary seemed nonchalant as he continued speaking, he too was on alert. As stated, he knew what Pallet Town was like and what kind of things happened around here. And while he did feel that Ash's precautions were sometimes not needed, this was one place where he knew that Ash was right to be on such high alert.

Again, most days, this level of alertness was unneeded. However, both boys were all too aware that anything could happen at any time.

"And the next thing I knew, I was at the pa-" Gary began, only to be cut off by a feminine bloodcurdling scream.

Bot Ash and Gary's hearts sunk at the sound. Someone was in danger, and close. A sense of dread quickly washed over the two boys. They hoped everyday that the were just being overly cautious, but today seemed to be one of those days that showed that their alertness was necessary.

Ash and Gary both looked to each other, locking eyes. Gary could tell what Ash was planning, just from his look.

 _"_ _ _I'm sorry."__ Gary deciphered from his friends gaze.

It wasn't a moment later that Ash took of running towards the origin of the scream... the ally. Gary tried to stop him to try and get him to think before acting so rashly, but quickly realized that it was of no use; he was already too far away.

Gary hated when Ash would get himself involved in these dangerous situations, but he also admired him for his desire to help anyone in need, no matter the risk. Gary himself wouldn't normally hesitate to help someone, but he was better at thinking before acting where as Ash would usually do something like this which admittedly, had been the right thing to do in the end of some more time sensitive situations. The only problem was the immense amount of risk that was associated with this.

Knowing his friend might need his help, Gary sighed and took off running after him.

* * *

While Ash was awakening in Pallet town, May was waking up as well. She had arisen from her slumber feeling refreshed and invigorated. She rubbed what little tiredness was still present from her eyes and allowed a wide smile to spread across her face. She'd just remembered her plan, and it excited her greatly.

 _"_ _ _Alright! Today's the day that Ash and Gary's lives change for the better. And I get to make some new friends!"__ May squealed internally.

May was excited to simply help the two boys, but she was also excited at the chance to make new friends. She'd always had a very bubbly personality and loved to meet new people. And almost always, people loved to meet her. This, as well as her beauty, was a large reason as to why she was so popular and well liked; she was basically loved by everyone in the school, and for all the right reasons.

May just couldn't seem to shake the excitement of possibility having two new friends by the end of the day. Despite being popular at school, the only person she could really even consider a __true__ friend was Dawn. Today, she hoped to add two more people to that list. She knew it would be difficult getting through to the boys, but she was confident that she would be able to do it.

As May was finishing freshening up for school, the doorbell rang throughout the expansive house. Putting the finishing touches on her hair, she skipped down the stairs happily and opened the door to find Dawn standing in the doorway. The two always walked to school together, so this visit was of no surprise to May.

"Ready to head out?" Dawn asked her long time friend.

"Just about, let me grab my backpack and then I'll be set." May responded before she jogged back into her room to grab her backpack. She took one more look at herself in the mirror and fixed a few loose strands of hair before running back downstairs and joining Dawn in the front yard.

The two began their walk to school, which started off in silence. Dawn was a bit confused by this as the only time May had nothing to say was when she was either very upset or very confused. She glanced at May's face to try and get a read on her best friend and was slightly surprised by what she saw.

Present on her face was a large smile. Dawn even began to hear what seemed to be a pleasant humming coming from her friend. Dawn had an idea as to why she seemed so excited, but she wanted confirmation.

"And why are you acting all happy today" Dawn asked playfully.

"Because I __am__ happy!" Responded May, playfully smacking Dawn on the arm. "Today is the day that we get to help some people out _and get_ two new friends."

Obviously knowing who May was talking about, Dawn giggled, "Wow May, you really have taken an interest in those two, haven't you?"

"And you haven't?" May retorted rhetorically.

"I certainly can't deny it. Before all of this I wouldn't even have thought twice about Ash or Gary, but now, knowing what we know, they really have sucked me in. It's almost like we're solving a mystery or something." Dawn responded with a quizzical look on her tanned face, still trying to piece together some of the scrambled up things that they knew about the two boys.

"I know what you mean. I'm just trying to piece things together. I literally can't stop thinking about him." May said too lost in thought to notice where she misspoke.

Dawn however, did notice, causing the girl to grin maniacally, "Ooooo, looks like May might be a little infatuated with a certain black haired guy." Dawn said in a sing song voice, laughing all the while.

May went red for only a second as she realized where she misspoke, but quickly regained her composure and scoffed.

"You know what I meant, don't twist my meaning. And I'll admit that Ash is attractive, but I'm definitely __not__ infatuated with him. You know I'm not so shallow to only care about looks, and we haven't even properly met yet. You need to slow your roll, Dawn." May said confidently. She knew her friend was just trying to joke around with her and she knew all of this already, but she just wanted to be clear.

Knowing Dawn was trying to tease her, May decided to throw a little something back, "And by the way, don't think I forgot what you said about Gary yesterday."

Dawn simply smiled and shrugged at May's remark, "Hey like you said, we're allowed to think their hot without actually knowing them. I was just messing with you anyway, I was obviously joking."

May nodded her head and both girls began laughing. It wasn't long after this that the two girls came upon the entrance of the school, immediately noticing Paul and the others waiting for them at the top of the stairs, near the entrance. The two decided to drop the subject for the time being, recalling what Paul had said the other day; even though they would eventually find out that they were not following Paul's instructions if May's plan was successful, they didn't want to cause any unnecessary commotion in their group.

At least, not yet.

"Hey ladies! How's it going?" Kenny said, with a smooth grin as he saw the girls approaching. "Dawn, may I say that you are looking particularly lovely on this fine morning."

Dawn half scoffed/half laughed in response. This wasn't the first time Kenny flirted with her or May. It was pretty much just a running joke at this point.

"Yeah, nice try, Kenny..." Dawn stated plainly.

Kenny was known to be somewhat of a womanizer, making sure to flirt with practically every pretty girl in the school, and May, Dawn, and even Misty were no exceptions to that. The only problem with his personality was that no girl would ever take him seriously, leaving his actual success rate with girls hovering around zero.

Turning their attention away from Kenny, both girls gave their friends a simple hello. Although Kenny was a total womanizer, deep down, they knew he was at least a halfway decent guy and if you didn't take him too seriously, a pretty funny kid. Despite all of his faults, and he __definitely__ had his faults, they were happy to call him one of their own.

Paul and Misty also voiced their greetings, leaving only one group member remaining silent.

Barry.

He looked like he was still completely lost in his thoughts, May and Dawn could only presume the same ones that plagued his mind from the previous day.

May glanced at Barry, immediately noticing the internal conflict going on inside of him. She realized then that herself and Dawn weren't the only one's that felt bad for Ash and Gary. She'd suspected it after yesterday, but after returning to Paul's side, she was curious as to how Barry would handle everything.

May could easily tell the story through Barry's eyes. Of how he felt about the situation, about his fear of trying to help Ash and Gary, not wanting to lose his best friend or his popularity. May made a mental note of this and decided that she would press the issue with him sometime later on, in private.

The six then walked into the school and not long after, into Mrs. Kilnes' class for homeroom, the only class they all shared. As everyone took their seats, the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

Mrs. Kilnes walked behind her desk and began to take attendance. May felt as if something was off, but she couldn't exactly put her finger on what, so she just shrugged it off.

"Good morning class. First things first, as always, role call." Mrs. Kilnes said.

"Lyra"

"Here"

"Trip"

"Here"

"Stephen"

"Here"

"Ash."

…

No response was heard.

"Aaasssshhh?" Mrs. Kilnes asked again, elongating Ash's name for emphasis.

"Well, looks like that slacker isn't here today." Mrs. Kilnes stated with a bit of malice in her voice. This earned giggles from most in the class.

A lightbulb clicked in May's head as this was going on. Although, they literally never talked, Ash was normally seated very close to her and as of now, his desk was unoccupied. This was strange because although previously, May paid very little attention to Ash, she couldn't recall his desk being empty many times before. It seemed as if Ash very rarely missed school.

May was hopeful that he was just running late; she wanted to begin her plan to help him on this day. She was slightly discouraged at first, but she knew this plan was going to have roadblocks; this was just the first of them.

"Serena" Mrs Kilnes was just coming to the end of role call, getting into the last names starting with the letter 'Y'.

Serena was so occupied with her thoughts, that she almost didn't hear her name get called.

"Here." Serena stated lamely, her eyes fixated on the empty seat a few rows over.

Serena was a beautiful girl with long, honey blonde hair. Today, she was dressed in a black blouse and a red skirt. She was known by most of the school and could be considered semi-popular. Though, she didn't really hang out with the "popular kids", her not so secret distaste for Paul and those around him being the main reason.

As Mrs. Kilnes finished role call and prepared for the lesson, Serena's eyes remained locked on the empty seat that usually housed Ash Ketchum during this time.

If anyone would've noticed, they would've found it strange that Serena seemed confused, almost concerned as to where the boy was. Though to Serena, it really wasn't strange in the slightest. After all...

...herself and Ash had history.

Quite a bit of it, stemming from when they were young. History she could never bring herself to completely let go of.

They were friends, best friends, for as long as she could remember. That is, until Ash turned 8. Serena recalled how she hadn't seen Ash for weeks after his birthday party and when they finally did meet up again, he wouldn't speak to her, to anyone. In fact, the only words he said to her when they saw each other again were, _"Stay away from me."_

To Serena, it seemed that he had changed for the worst, that he was ignoring her and wanted to hurt her by telling her to stay away from him. She'd held a grudge for a long time for this, stubbornly ignoring Ash as he did to her.

And that grudge lasted for a while...

That is, until she learned what'd happened to his parents.

She hadn't known about what'd happened when the incident occurred but really, how could she have? She'd only been 8 herself at the time. Because of her parents being so young, all her parents were willing to tell her was that __something__ had happened, that something had changed. It took so many years for her to find out what that something was. Serena didn't end up learning the truth until she turned 14.

Serena still recalled the guilt she felt after she'd found out what'd happened to him that day. She had no problem admitting to herself that this was the most trying time of her young life, which seemed silly to say when Ash had gone through so much worse.

For the longest time, Serena thought that they had just grown apart, with Ash's change into a jerk being the catalyst. Ash never tried to become her friend again and because of this, Serena just assumed he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. With that thought in mind, she'd just went on with her life, having accepted that Ash didn't want her around anymore, even though it hurt her more than anything ever had before this. Though, that didn't mean she still didn't care about Ash.

Because she did care about him.

A lot.

Once she found out the truth, Serena knew she had to talk to him, even though the last time herself and Ash had spoke had been almost 6 years prior. The memory of the subsequent confrontation still often replayed in her mind.

* * *

 _ _Flashback__

Today was the day.

At least, that's what Serena kept telling herself.

It'd been months since she'd discovered what'd happened to Ash's parents and she'd still yet to talk to him about it. Her fear of how Ash would react always kept her from talking to the boy again, not that anyone would really blame her for keeping her distance.

Although they hadn't spoken in years, Serena always did her best to at least know a bit of what was going on in Ash's world. With only seeing him at school, all she knew was that Ash did his best to keep to himself and definitely had a bad attitude.

From what she saw, Ash seemed to have only one friend in a strange kid named Gary and was constantly under attack from other students, which Paul and his friends provided the worst of.

For the longest time, Serena couldn't bring herself to feel too bad for Ash. In her mind, he'd brought it upon himself by changing who he was. Though even despite that, she was never exactly happy with the fact that Ash was being bullied, especially with how frequently it happened.

Though now, knowing what she did, Serena felt sick to her stomach just thinking about it. He didn't deserve any of this. No one understood what he'd been through, how it seemed to have changed him. If what'd happened to Ash would've happened to her, Serena thought she would probably shut herself off from the world herself.

Though, even with this deep seeded and intense feeling of regret constantly plaguing her, Serena couldn't bring herself to do anything.

That is, until now.

Serena did her best to gather herself as panic began to set in. She hadn't spoken to Ash in years, and the familiar fear of how he'd react to her coming up to him out of the blue was overcoming her again. But this time, she was determined to push that fear away. She was going to do this.

She had to.

If not to end the guilt she felt, then for Ash himself.

Serena glanced up at the large clock on the front of Viridian City Middle School just in time to see the hands position themselves on the 12 and the 4.

4 o clock, when those unlucky enough to have received detention would be let out.

When she would finally talk to Ash again.

Serena anxiously awaited Ash's arrival alone in front of the school. The longer she waited, the more the panic begin to overcome her. She just wanted to get the conversation started. After that, she hoped, she would be fine. After a few minutes, the doors to the school came flying open.

Ash came fumbling out of the doors, obviously having been pushed hard. This caused Serena to grow worried and confused momentarily; she'd thought that Ash was the only person who'd received a detention today. Despite her knowledge of his detention, she had no idea as to why he'd gotten it.

Serena sighed as she watched the scene in front of her. Could nothing ever be easy?

Walking up behind Ash, whom had fallen to the ground, were Paul, Barry, and Kenny. Serena recoiled at the sight and made herself as scarce as she could whilst still being able to see and hear what was happening.

She nearly yelped when Paul kicked Ash hard in the gut. His face was angry, both Kenny and Barry also shared a similar expression.

"That's for getting us put in detention!" Paul spat aggressively.

Serena watched on as Ash sat on all fours, heaving, trying to regain his breath. After a few moments, he looked up at Paul, Kenny, and Barry.

"You got detention for beating me up, I didn't do anything. The only reason I got detention is because the teachers here are idiots." Ash retorted, his breath slowly returning.

His breath was stolen from him once again however, when Kenny stepped forward and kicked Ash in the stomach again, causing the boy to break out into a coughing fit. For whatever reason, even though everything he'd said was true, Ash's words enraged the boy's even further.

After just a few seconds, Barry kicked Ash as well and then they all repeated the process. Serena's fear was quickly replaced by anger toward the three boys beating her former friend.

Serena wasn't going to stand by and watch this go on any longer. Taking a deep breath and pushing all fear she felt to the back of her mind, Serena walked out from her hiding spot, doing her best to make it look as if she was just walking by and not having been watching this whole event transpire.

However, it looked as if this was a needless worry as even when Serena revealed herself, the boys never looked her way. They were too engulfed in kicking the downed Ash.

Knowing there was no going back at this point, Serena cleared her throat obnoxiously, "Ahem!"

The appearance of another person on the scene caused the three bullies to pause their assault and look to see who it was that'd made the sound.

The trio seemed confused at what they saw. They recognized the girl as Serena Yvonne and have had a run in to her over the years.

But why was she here now? And why was she interrupting things? She'd never seemed to have a problem with them harassing Ash in the past.

"Now how smart is it to do this right in front of the school? Wasn't it something like this that got you all in trouble in the first place?" Serena came across as very condescending, using her recently learned information against them. She never really liked these guys, and this was a good chance to show that.

The trio's faces contorted in anger. The weren't used to being talked down upon. However, there was also a lot of truth coming from the girl, so they couldn't get too upset. And so, without another word, Paul, Kenny, and Barry left the scene, anger still etched on their faces.

Serena watched the boys until they were out of sight, making sure that they weren't coming back. Once she was satisfied, she looked back to Ash.

Ash was on his hands and knees, breathing very heavily and coughing every once in a while. His eyes were focused on the ground below him; he was obviously trying to concentrate on regaining his breath.

Horrifying was a good way to put it. Serena had known that a lot of people picked on Ash, especially Paul and his friends, but she'd never seen anything like this. Pulling herself out of her shock, Serena slowly approached the boy, her legs shaking like leaves.

Ash either didn't hear her coming or was choosing to ignore her, as his position on the ground had yet to change, even when Serena was standing right in front of him.

Serena decided to wait until he'd recovered completely before saying anything. Though truthfully, she was hoping that Ash would say something first, but she knew that was a long shot.

Almost a minute later, Ash started to regain his footing, albeit slowly. Whilst standing up, Ash spit off to the side. Though instead of saliva leaving his mouth, it was nothing but blood.

Seeing this seemed to break Serena's resolve to have Ash speak first. She was really, _really_ worried about him at this point.

"A-Ash...Are you...okay?" Serena questioned unsteadily.

Ash didn't respond immediately. Instead, he kept his head down, his arms resting on his knees as he stood. Almost thirty seconds later, Ash turned his head toward Serena.

His nose and mouth were bleeding and he was still slightly out of breath, but he didn't seem like he noticed any of the pain any longer. Instead, Serena only saw contempt and confusion in his eyes.

Not a good sign...

"I've been through worse..." Ash responded plainly, wiping his face with the sleeve of his black shirt. It was then he stood to his full height, high above Serena.

Whatever stupor Serena was stuck in collapsed when Ash wiped the blood off of his face. Out of instinct, Serena reached into her bag and pulled out a small pouch of tissues, which she quickly but sheepishly offered to her former best friend.

Ash appeared hesitant at first, but after a few moments, he took a few of the offered tissues and wiped the blood off of his face.

Serena watched as Ash wiped himself down in silence, trying desperately to think of something to say.

As Ash finished up, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply and finally looked Serena directly in the eye.

"Why are you here?" Ash asked bluntly, surprising the young blonde with the lack of emotion in his tone; if nothing else, she'd expected anger to show in his voice.

"I-uh...I was just-..." Serena couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. It had to have been the stress of the situation, she guessed.

"If you're just going to stand there and stutter, then I'm leaving." Ash spoke coldly as he began walking away.

Seeing Ash's fleeting figure, Serena screamed, "WAIT!"

Ash stopped in his tracks without turning around, though he knew he shouldn't have. He was just so surprised to see Serena, despite the fact that he didn't visibly show it. It'd been a long time since they last spoke.

A very long time.

Moving a few steps to be closer to the boy, Serena placed a fist near her heart and tried to find the right words to say. Knowing Ash would leave if she couldn't get out what she wanted to say seemed to give the ability to speak back to her.

"I...I'm sorry. I'm so, _so_ sorry. For everything" Serena said remorsefully, the pain she felt for what she'd done clearly evident in her voice. She hoped Ash would know what she as talking about. Luckily for her, it seemed that he did.

Ash didn't turn around at Serena's apology, "Don't be. I was the one who told you to stay away. You were just doing what I asked."

Serena shook her head in the negative, even though she knew Ash couldn't see her with his back turned.

"I'm sorry for more than just that. I'm sorry... I'm sorry... about your parents. I only just found out recently. If I'd have know sooner..." Serena spoke, her voice trailing off at the end.

Ash still hadn't moved from his position, keeping his face hidden from Serena. Though if she could've seen his face, Serena would've been greeted with a look of shock.

For some reason he still didn't know, the murder of his parents was not public knowledge; the only people who knew were close friends of the family, and that wasn't many people. There were no articles, no news reports, not even a section in the newspaper's obituary. Ash had done a lot of research on this, but had never been able to find anything. It was all very fishy, but he had no leads to go on, so Ash was forced to give up the search.

Ash was aware that Serena's mother, Grace, had known about the incident, as she was present at the funeral processions. Though, he was also aware that she didn't plan on telling Serena, at least until she was older.

And apparently, that time had come.

If nothing else, this did explain how Serena knew about what'd happened.

Having gotten past his shock, Ash's typical demeanor returned, "Don't worry... I'm over it."

Now it was Serena's turn to be shocked. How could anyone ever _get_ __over__ losing their parents? Normally, Serena would've chalked up Ash's statement as something he'd said as to not worry her, but he just sounded so serious.

Bewildered, Serena spoke, "How can you say that? How can you get over something like that, Ash?"

Of course, Ash wasn't over the death of his parents, not even close, but it appeared that he'd convinced Serena otherwise. Ash was actually saddened by this; he'd been acting, putting up a front for so long that he'd become great at it...

The sadness quickly turned into irritation, entirely at himself. Though for some reason, Serena's ignorance to his true feelings also served to anger him. Maybe it was because they'd been such good friends once and always used to be able to read each other.

Ash turned around forcefully, anger evident on his face as he took another step closer to Serena.

"I didn't have a choice! What else am I supposed to do?! Huh?! They're gone and no amount of grieving is going to bring them back!" Ash shouted, causing Serena to recoil in fear.

Having gotten through his outburst, Ash felt guilt flush throughout his body for scaring his past best friend. For all she knew, Ash had changed completely; she didn't know what he would do, if he might hit her...

That look of fear in Serena's eyes hurt him more than anything else ever could.

Ash sighed, making sure to soften himself before continuing, more calmly this time, "They're gone, Serena. What happened that day haunts me, more than you'll ever understand. But in the end, no matter how I feel, or what I do, they're gone. And that's never going to change."

Ash's guilt for making Serena so scared caused the wall he'd built around his true self to fall momentarily. Though as he realized what he'd done, he built it right back up again, just not as high...

At this point, Serena's eyes were watering with tears. It was just as she'd suspected ever since she learned about Ash's parents. Ash __was__ still struggling with this...

...and he was doing it completely alone.

"Ash, I should've fought harder to stay by your side, no matter what caused you to change! I shouldn't have been so stubborn. I'm so, so sorry for leaving you all alone. But I won't let that be anymore. I'm going to help you. I'm going to be there for you from now until forever!" Serena finished, her voice breaking throughout her speech.

As she finished speaking, Serena lunged forward, hoping to capture her old friend in a hug.

...only to have her embrace avoided.

One step to the side.

That was all it took to crush Serena completely.

Both 14 year olds stood where they'd ended up, side by side and looking toward the ground. Serena eyes were wide and wet with tears.

For just a moment, Ash actually considered accepting the hug. God he wanted to accept the hug.

But he couldn't.

Not with where they were. Not with the situation he was in. Serena's audible sobs were what finally forced him to speak again.

"Serena, if you still care about me, if you really want to help...then I need you to stay away from me." Ash spoke, the slightest bit of sadness slipping into his voice.

Ash's words caused Serena to look at him again. Seeing this, Ash walked until he was in front of the beautiful blonde again, meeting her watery blue eyes.

"Don't get involved with me, no matter what. You see me in the hallway, you ignore me. You see me getting the crap beaten out of me, you let it be... If you were ever really my friend, my __best__ friend, then you'll do this for me." Ash stated with a level voice.

Despite his tone, his eyes told a completely different story. A story which, Serena seemed to understand. Even after all this time, Serena could still read her best friend to a certain extent.

Ash's eyes showed an immense amount of sadness, as well as an intense pain rooted in his soul. They showed him pleading that she would oblige, even though it looked to be destroying him deep down. It was completely and totally confusing.

While staring into Ash's eyes, Serena's own began to slow their production of tears until she was no longer crying; looking into Ash's deep brown eyes still had the same calming effect that they did when they were kids.

Serena could tell that Ash truly meant it when he said she would __help__ him by staying away. So, even with a million conflicting thoughts running through her mind, Serena nodded.

If this is what he wanted, what he felt he __needed__ to do for some reason, then who was Serena to be selfish and disagree, even if it hurt her tremendously.

But no matter how much pain she felt, she could tell that it was hurting Ash even more.

Upon seeing Serena's nod of agreement, Ash sighed and spoke with relief evident in his tone, "Thank you, Serena. I know this doesn't make any sense to you, but it's what has to be done."

Seeing Serena not responding, her head hanging low, made Ash want nothing more than to get out of there before he would do something he would regret.

"Okay...then, goodbye." Ash said before walking away, leaving Serena standing in a cesspool of emotion.

Serena stood in silence and grabbed for the locket that sat around her neck. The locket that Ash had given her long ago for her seventh birthday. Her most prized possession, even to this day. Slowly, tears began falling from her eyes again.

By the time she'd let go of the locket and finished crying, the sun had gone down.

She hadn't even noticed.

 _ _Flashback End__

* * *

Serena snapped herself out of her memory when she felt hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Wiping them away, she tried to look anywhere else in the room. It didn't take long before she noticed May Maple, also staring intently at Ash's seat.

Serena grew confused as to why she was doing so. She didn't think that May knew Ash in the slightest, so why was she looking at his desk the way she was? Was that...concern she saw on her face?

Feeling that someone staring at her, May glanced up from the desk to see a girl whom she recognized to be Serena Yvonne staring back at her. As their eyes met, they momentarily wondered why they were looking in the direction they were before both girls looked away.

Mrs. Kilnes had long since finished role call and both May and Dawn realized that Gary wasn't present either. They shot each other questioning looks, but neither had an answer as to why this was. Just as they turned back to face the class, they heard the door open and watched as Gary walked in...

Alone.

This was extremely odd as Gary and Ash seemed to go everywhere together, never separately. However, for the time being, anyone with questions about it had no choice but to simply shrug them off; they wouldn't be getting answers at this time.

"Ahhh, Gary, how nice of you to join us." Mrs. Kilnes said, mocking the boy. Gary simply ignored the woman and walked to his desk, which was located near both Misty and Dawn.

While walking, Mrs. Kilnes decided to speak again, "So Gary, where is that burnout friend of yours today?"

Gary had yet to sit down and was still facing away from the front of the class. However, when he heard Mrs. Kilnes speak badly about Ash, he turned around, revealing a look of pure hatred and anger.

His eyes were rimmed red as if he had just been crying and he looked as if he was about to explode at Mrs. Kilnes any second. Never had anyone seen a look as scary as the one Gary was shooting his teacher at that moment. Even Mrs. Kilnes herself recoiled at the sight.

Gary continued to glare at Mrs. Kilnes, not saying a word, until he took a deep breath and exhaled his anger; blowing up at a teacher wouldn't help anything. He then walked the rest of the way to his seat, but not before being tripped up by the boy seated in front of him.

This earned a laugh from the class, but Gary's expressionless face never changed as he picked himself up off the floor and took his seat. Immediately after Gary fell, Mrs. Kilnes made a barely audible laughing sound and began to teach the class, but not before slipping a detention slip on Gary's desk for being late.

The class went on but May, Dawn, Serena and Barry were all lost in their thoughts, wondering why it looked like Gary had been crying and why Ash wasn't here; there was obviously a connection. Even if she'd only spoken to Ash once, May still worried for his well being and she knew Dawn was the same.

She managed to calm herself slightly, but was still extremely curious of the boy's whereabouts. Worry also began to creep to the forefront of her mind. Judging by Gary's red eyes and his extreme look of hatred when Ash's name was mentioned, it was possible something bad had occurred. She did her best to erase this thought from her mind, but was having a hard time. As she looked to her friend Dawn, she could tell she was having similar thoughts.

With these thoughts plaguing her and her friend's minds, May decided that she would take a huge chance and ask Gary about where Ash was at lunch later in the day.

 _"_ _ _Well, if I can't help them both today, I'll at least hopefully make some headway with Gary. Hopefully he's in a sharing mood"__ May thought to herself while glancing at Gary, who looked as distant as she'd ever seen him. It was a look that made her worry grow tenfold.

The rest of Mrs. Kilnes class went by very slowly for May as her anxiety at the prospect of talking to Gary rose. Once the bell rang, she stayed back as the rest of the class, including Mrs. Kilnes, left the classroom. Dawn, noticing May not moving from her seat, walked over to her.

"It's weird right?" Dawn asked, "Where do you think Ash is... and what is up with Gary? Now I don't like Mrs. Kilnes much either, but Gary had a look of absolute hatred in his eyes after she mentioned Ash. I thought he was going to kill her, not that I'd put it past him..."

"I don't know, but we're going to find out at lunch. I'm going to talk to Gary to try to figure out where Ash is and make some headway with our plan." May said, the determination evident in her voice.

"Awesome, I'll come with you!" Dawn exclaimed, excited at the idea of beginning their plan to help the boys.

May's faced scrunched up in uncertainty at her friend's words, "I don't know, Dawn. I feel like you might freak him out. You tend to talk way too much. And don't even try to deny it because you know it's true."

"Please, please, please let me come with you? I just want to help." Dawn was going to argue with May, but she realized that her best friend was correct in her accusation. So instead, she put on her best puppy dog face and begged.

May tried her best to ignore it, but the face was just too adorable. She sighed in defeat before speaking, "Fine, but let me do the talking...and stop making that face, it's killing me."

Proud of her work, Dawn grabbed her things and proceeded out the door. May did the same,only to be stopped by Barry just outside the door.

The first thing they noticed about the boy was how terrible he looked. It seemed that he got very little sleep the previous night, evident by the emptiness and exhaustion in his eyes. They'd noticed it when they met up earlier, but it seemed even worse at this point.

"Were you two talking about Gary and Ash? Barry asked almost too enthusiastically. "I-I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

Obviously, Barry had heard them talking about their plans, so they saw no use in denying what they had said. Hesitantly, the girls nodded their heads, praying that Barry wouldn't immediately tell Paul of their intentions.

"Okay... thank God I'm not the only one that can't just forget what I saw yesterday." Barry stated with a shaky, but grateful voice. The girls calmed slightly as they realized they wouldn't have to worry about Paul finding out, at least not from Barry . "I mean, the guilt has been eating me alive! I've never felt anything like this before, I hate it!"

"Do you know anything that I don't, and I mean anything?" Barry was desperate. Desperate for any sort of answers. Guidance. Anything.

May realized quickly that her hunch was correct; no matter what he'd said to the others, Barry still felt for Ash and Gary. Dawn looked to May, as if asking for permission to share what they knew and what they were planning on doing; she herself felt okay with it, but she wanted her friend's approval as well. Reading her friend's intentions, May nodded.

Taking the initiative, Dawn shared what they had seen the other day after everyone else had left. She also let him in on their plan, seeing no harm in telling Barry of how they planned on helping the two boys.

"Great... Now I feel even worse." Barry said sadly. You could almost hear the frown in his voice.

Barry had always seemed to mirror Paul's personality. When they were together, they acted as if they were one person rather than two separate individuals. However, on this day, May and Dawn saw something different in him. They saw the sympathy he so obviously felt and the deep regret, stemming for the fact that he was ever a part of hurting these people.

Though they weren't sure if he felt bad about bullying in general or just the fact that he'd been bullying such troubled people, but it was at the very least, a start.

This new side of their friend lead the girls to feel a higher level of trust in him than they'd ever felt before; Barry was a much deeper and more complex person than he appeared to be. He was just too caught up in the popularity trap that was high school.

Being unsure of what to say next, an uncomfortable silence fell upon the three friends. It didn't take long for the three to become fed up with the awkwardness, so Barry spoke up again.

"I wish I could help you, it's just... I'm really worried about what Paul might do. I don't want to lose one of my best friends over this... But I also can't just sit back and do nothing, my conscience won't allow it. So if there is anything you ever need me to do to help, specifically when Paul isn't around, then feel free to ask." Barry offered with a sad smile on his face.

May and Dawn nodded at him, promising they would take him up on his offer at some point. They were slightly annoyed by Barry 's cowardice that came when dealing with Paul, but deep down, they understood; it wasn't easy to abandon something familiar for something of such great uncertainty. Having one event change your entire life would be terrifying to anyone.

With Various thoughts passing through their minds, the three parted ways to go to their respective second period classes.

 _"_ _ _I really hope their plan works. I never thought I would be feeling this kind of guilt for anyone, let alone Gary and Ash..."__ Barry said to himself.

Dawn's mind was filled with hope that Gary would let them help him, _"Come on Gary, I know you only speak to Ash, but you have to open up to us. I hope you'll realize that we just want to help._

 _"_ _ _Ash, Gary...things are definitely going to get better for you both."__ May thought, a confident smile shinning on her face.

* * *

 **A/N: And there you have it everyone, chapter three of, "Facade". And also, 2 chapters in 2 days! Finally, Serena's character is introduced, and so is her history with Ash. We also got to see a bit of Ash acting all reckless like we know him to do. Also, Dawn and May's plan to help Ash and Gary is about to begin. I wonder how that will go...**

 **Please guys, leave a review. They really do make me want to write more and there has been a lack of them on the first two chapters. Also, I love when I get favorites on the story but please, also make sure to follow it. That lets me know that people want to continue reading the story and that way, you won't miss an update.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for reading and I'll see you next time.**

 **See Ya!**


	4. Nice to Meet You

**A/N: Hey guys! Welcome back to chapter of, "Facade". This upcoming chapter should be satisfying, but nothing like the next chapter. A lot of answers will come in chapter 5. Now that isn't to say this chapter isn't important. In fact, it is a very,** ** _ _very__** **** **important chapter to the story. And hey, I find it interesting :) (YAY NARCISSISM)**

 **Anyway, please enjoy the chapter and make sure to tell me what you thought in the review section. Also, PM me any questions or concerns you might have!**

* * *

 _" _We have no right to express an opinion until we know all of the answers"__

 _\- Kurt Cobain_

* * *

Facade

The rest of the day dragged on for May. Each class felt longer than the last as she impatiently waited for lunch to come around. After hours of desperately trying to pay attention in her classes, it was finally nearing the end of fourth period, her last class before lunch. With just about five minutes left in class, the person who sat behind her tapped her on the shoulder.

May turned around to see what was obviously a note being handed her way. May thanked the person who'd given her the note and proceeded to read it in her mind.

 _"_ _ _I was thinking, we'd better wait until the end of lunch before we go talk to Gary. We don't want Paul to see us talking with him, especially after yesterday. I know he'll find out eventually, but I'm really not in the mood to fight with him today."__

 _-Dawn_

May looked back at her friend, who sat just three seats behind her, and nodded her head in agreement.

Not long after their little back and forth, the bell rang, signifying the end of the period. May wasted no time in grabbing Dawn's hand and the rushing to the lunch room.

They arrived quickly and proceeded to sit down at their usual table, greeting all of their friends and acquaintances all the while. Immediately, both girls took notice of Barry, who was seated in his normal position at the end of the table. However, instead of being engaged in conversation like he normally would be, he was eating in silence, taking minuscule bites of his sandwich.

Like Barry, the girls were staying mostly to themselves, being uncharacteristically quiet. Though, to say it was intentional would have been a lie. Now that the planned confrontation was less than a half an hour away, both girls' nerves were at an all time high. Though despite this, their curiosity and concern outweighed their nerves, just steeling their resolve to speak to Gary further.

May and Dawn began slowly eating their respective lunches as they looked around the lunch room. It didn't take long for May to spot Gary at what she assumed to be his usual table in the back corner of the lunch room. He was sitting alone, for once having no Ash to keep him company.

A pang of sadness ran through her body as she saw just how alone he appeared to be. Plus, his face was still flashing dozens of complex emotions, all of which being negative.

Despite what she was feeling, she had no choice but to ignore it and wait until Paul and the others left the lunch room before she could do anything.

May and Dawn stayed almost completely silent for the first half of lunch, only responding with one word answers or simple gestures when spoken to. Taking notice of this, Misty grew curious. It wasn't like either of them to be so quiet; they were widely known as talkative people.

"May, are you ok? You've barely said a word all lunch." Misty whispered to May, choosing to talk to her as she was the closest of the two girls.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just... big test in chemistry tomorrow! I'm thinking about what I need to study tonight." May thought up the best excuse she could think of on the fly.

Misty seemed satisfied with her answer, she knew that the brunette was the type of person that took her studies very seriously. She gave May a small smile and turned back towards a conversation happening between Paul and Kenny.

May internally sighed, thanking the heavens above that she was fairly quick witted. She looked to Dawn, checking on her friends state of mind. She was slowly nibbling on a sandwich, her eyes glazed over, a sign that she was deep in thought; she hadn't even noticed the back and forth between herself and Misty.

May was about to shake Dawn out her state, but the sight of a noticeably unnerved girl walking into the blunette's line of sight seemed to do the job for her. The aforementioned girl made her way through the cafeterias, walking slowly, almost hesitantly to the group's lunch table, sitting down when she arrived.

Everyone immediately recognized the person; she sat with them everyday. Rosa, May recalled, was her name. A nice girl. Basically everyone in the group considered her a good friend but for most, she was really not much more than a friend you see at school.

The normally attractive brunette girl was, at the moment, looking dreadful. She'd obviously tried to clean off the dried mascara that'd ran down her checks, but had missed the area just below her eyes, suggesting that she had been crying. She had about a half-dozen visible bandages running up and down her arms and legs seeming to be covering small cuts.

Seeing Rosa in such a state was cause for concern. Like any teenage girl, Rosa cared deeply about her appearance, so seeing her like this was a shock to all. No one showed more concern, however, than Rosa's best friend, Bianca.

Bianca was another __school__ friend of May's and the others. A pretty blonde girl with short hair who was normally an extremely loud and outspoken person. She often times wore glasses and you could sometimes find her wearing a beret.

She had been best friends with Rosa for as long as anyone could remember. Their friendship was akin to that of May and Dawn's, sharing a long standing closeness that was clear to anyone who saw them together.

"Oh my gosh! Rosa, what happened?!" Bianca was frantic, almost overly so considering it seemed she only had some small cuts and bruises. However, seeing her best friend in this state shocked her to the core. The whole table was silent, listening in on the conversation between the two girls.

Rosa immediately noticed that all eyes were on her. Although she was expecting a reaction like this, it still made her extremely nervous. In order to not cause a panic, she knew she had to chose her next words carefully.

"Uhhh..." Rosa hesitated, "Nothing major. Just a little...um...incident that happened before school."

"Rosa..." Bianca said, her tone becoming more firm and serious, abandoning the franticness for the sake of her friend. "What happened? Is this why you weren't in homeroom this morning?"

She was hoping to not have to explain what had happened to her so soon, but she knew coming in that the chances of anyone waiting for her to be ready were slim. And so, Rosa sighed in defeat, knowing everybody deserved an explanation.

The only thing making her comfortable enough to share what had happened was the fact that everyone at this table were all people she considered friends. The whole reason she'd even decided on going to school after what'd happened was for their love and support. She just hadn't anticipated how difficult it would be to talk about what'd occurred just a few hours ago.

She looked at all the faces gathered at the table. Her friends. Her extended family. Everyone had their eyes glued to her; faces etched with concern and curiosity. Rosa sighed once again before beginning.

"I..I-I, uh, was almost... raped..." Rosa admitted, feeling the previously suppressed emotion of terror creeping back into her.

"WHAT!?" Nearly everyone shouted out at once, nearly causing an uproar.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok? "

"What happened?"

"Why are you even at school right now?"

The questions flew at Rosa like a barrage of bullets. She was becoming overwhelmed by it all, but managed to calm herself down enough to continue speaking.

"I was staying at my grandmother's house in Pallet Town. I know it's not a great place, but my grandmother never had any problems and I've never had an issue anytime I've stayed there, so I wasn't worried at all." Rosa paused for a moment to wipe her eyes, which were slowly beginning to produce tears.

"Where were you exactly?" Dawn asked, her curiosity getting the better of her patience. When she heard 'Pallet Town', her mind unconsciously desired to know more; they had just been there the previous day after all.

"I'm not sure exactly what street I was on. All I know is that I ended up in what was definitely a bad part of town, even for Pallet. I was somewhere near a liquor store, just a few streets over from that old foster home, if you know where that is." Rosa stated, not sure if anyone would know where sh was describing considering many people wouldn't even step foot in Pallet if they didn't have to.

May, Dawn, Barry, Misty, and Kenny were shocked at the revelation. Even Paul's eyes widened slightly. They had been by the orphanage less than 24 hours ago and yet, they saw no signs of danger in the streets, nor did they feel any concern for their safety, even despite the town's reputation.

They understood Pallet Town was known to be dangerous, but they hadn't encountered anything themselves. If they'd known just how bad it could get there, they doubted they would have continued to spy on Ash and Gary after they passed into Pallet.

The group was soon snapped out of their thoughts by Rosa as she continued speaking. "There were a bunch of people roaming the streets, but they all looked sort of...different. They weren't the kind of people you see in the nicer parts of town..."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked, entering into the conversation.

"Well...all the people looked sort of...shady. I don't know how else to put it. But anyways, I started to feel very unsafe..." Rosa scoffed, "...for good reason it seems. I started walking faster, I just really didn't want to be there any longer than I had to. I knew it was a bad part of town but up until then, like I said, I wasn't really worried. I'd walked this route dozens of times before without incident."

As Rosa finished, the table noticed her tense up. She was obviously struggling with the next part of the story, where she was assaulted

Rosa took a deep breath, forcing back her fear over what she was about to reveal, "Th-there was this man, he was walking the opposite way as me. I just ignored him and walked by like I had all the others but... h-he grabbed me. I tried so hard to scream but before I could make a sound, he put his hand over my mouth and dragged me into an alley. I know that people had to have seen this happening, b-but none of them did anything! They just stood by and watched this man take me!"

Rosa nearly screamed her words, being reminded of the emotions running through her at the time; the fact that no one had helped her both infuriated and terrified her.

Everyone continued watching Rosa, who was crying again. The group waited patiently, the people closest to her throwing reassuring hands on her back.

Surprisingly, it didn't take long for Rosa to calm herself. So, taking a deep breath, she continued, "I was trying my hardest to fight my way out of his grasp, but this guy was a lot stronger than me. He threw me on the ground and I hit my head hard. Between that and the fear I was feeling, I nearly passed out. Things were fuzzy, but I saw the man reach into his pocket and pull something out. I could only assume it was a gun, or a knife, or something. Turns out I was right...it was knife. It was then I finally managed to scream for the first time."

"H-he kept talking to me, telling me not to worry. That it would all be over soon. I was so scared that I couldn't do anything, and the dizziness I was feeling didn't help. I-I had no idea what the man's intentions were, I just knew I had to get away,. But then he..h-he started to rip off my clothes." Rosa began to struggle, harder than before, to fight back her emotions in order to finish the story.

"He got my pants off and that's when I started to struggle again. He'd restrained me completely at that point and he cut me a few times, he said it was to let me know he was serious. That's why I have all the bandages. Everything was really starting to get to me, and I was beginning to lose consciousness."

"Just before I passed out, the man was ripping my shirt off when he suddenly just...stopped. For seemingly no reason. At that point, I could barely hear, I was slipping in and out of consciousness, but I'm convinced his attention went to the person that'd come to save me. That was the last thing I remembered for a while."

Rosa allowed a small smile to grow on her face, feeling better knowing that someone had actually come to her rescue.

She was about to continue when Misty spoke impatiently, "Who was it? Do you remember? Or maybe you found out afterwards?"

Rosa shook her head, the sad smile never leaving her face. "No, I never found out. The only clue I got was when I started to regain consciousness. My vision was blurry and my hearing was pretty bad, but I got a look at his face. He told me that everything was going to be alright and that I would be okay But I also noticed that his voice seemed really... forced and shallow, almost as if he was in pain or something. Despite that, it was also so full of sincerity and worry. I could tell he was really concerned about me, even though he was most likely hurt himself."

"The last thing I heard were another person approaching. He was screaming what I can only assume was the guy's name, but I couldn't quite make out what it was. But I swear I'd heard it before, like I know somebody with that name. There was something so familiar about him, like I've seen him a bunch of times before..."

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down..." Kenny stated. Rosa just shrugged in response.

Even though it meant nothing to anybody else, May, Dawn and Barry's ears all perked up as their minds all worked to put together the puzzle. With what was on their minds at the time, it was hard not to think what they were. The familiarity of the rescuer, the fact this took place near Ash's home, the reason Gary seemed to have been crying, it all seemed to be connected. Despite being all but certain they knew who'd saved Rosa, they wouldn't dare bring it up. Not here, at least.

"I was only awake for a few moments before I went under again. The next time I woke up, I was in the hospital." Rosa finished, much more calm now that she'd gotten past the worst of it.

"So you have no clue who saved you?" Misty asked again.

"No. I asked the people in the hospital who'd brought me there or if there was anyone with me, but they said that there wasn't, that I was just dropped off by the front doors." Rosa responded sadly.

"Guys, I really need to find out who this person is. I need to thank him for helping me." Rosa stated with a smile. However, her grin was soon replaced by a look of confusion. "It's so strange, I really, _really_ can't shake the feeling that I've seen this person before, but I don't know anybody besides my grandmother that would be in Pallet that early in the morning."

"Rosa, don't take this the wrong way but, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING AT SCHOOL!? YOU SHOULD BE AT HOME, OR IN THE HOSPITAL OR SOMETHING!" Bianca screamed. She had listened patiently to the whole story without freaking out even once, despite her urges. But now that Rosa had finished, all the emotion she'd been holding back was pouring out.

Rosa seemed much calmer after talking about her hero. She looked at Bianca with understanding in her eyes, "Sorry Bianca, it's just... my friends have always been able to help me deal with things better than my parents. I had to fight them tooth and nail to let me come for the rest of the day but after we found out that I didn't have a concussion, and was physically okay despite a few cuts and bruises, the doctor said that I should be able to go if I wanted to."

Bianca, who had been crying while Rosa recounted her ordeal, quickly ran around the table and engulfed Rosa in a hug. Whether it was to comfort her friend or herself, she didn't know.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Bianca sobbed into Rosa's shoulder.

Everyone offered their support for the young brunette. To most, this was the first time they'd ever heard of anyone experiencing something like this. It was almost unimaginable; they couldn't understand how Rosa was handling this so well. But despite that, they wanted to be there for their friend.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate you being here for me. This is exactly why I decided to come to school. Your support is second to none." Rosa said with a genuine smile.

While most everyone was comforting Rosa, May, Dawn, and Barry couldn't bring themselves to move, let alone speak. There was no way they would be shaken out of their thoughts, pondering to themselves, trying to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. Maybe it was because it had been the only thing on their mind for the past day and a half, but regardless all three students came to an assumption. May and Dawn locked eyes; each knowing what the other was thinking.

Barry did his best to mask his shock at the thought circling in his mind, May and Dawn noticed. Despite this, the girls knew what he had to be thinking; his eyes were betraying his ruse.

May stood up, using the commotion surrounding Rosa to do so discreetly, and forcefully dragged Dawn to the drinking fountain located in the far corner of the cafeteria.

As the two came to a halt, Dawn wasted no time in trying to defuse the situation

"We need to slow down. It couldn't have been-" Dawn began to say before she was cut off by the bell, signifying the end of the lunch period. She was actually a bit thankful she was interrupted; she knew she was about to say the opposite she was thinking.

"Well... If anyone knows anything, it'd be..." May started slowly.

"Gary." they both said in unison as the looked at the boy, who was slowly packing up his things at the empty table in the back of the lunch room.

* * *

This was it.

Time to get some answers.

Gary unintentionally spent the entirety of lunch in his head. Worrying. Never once touching his food.

He was having a hard time keeping his emotions in check. The one and only person he could talk to was not only not there to listen, but was also the root of his emotional distress. He was elated when the bell rang; that meant only a few more periods before the school day would be over.

Gary was taking his time packing up his things. As much as he was glad that one more period was over, he dreaded his next class; the teacher was more than harsh on students who didn't pay attention, and Gary knew that he would be one of those students on this day. While trying to delay the inevitable, most everyone had cleared out of the lunchroom.

Save for two other people.

Who were currently approaching him.

Gary watched in confusion as two women he recognized as May Maple and Dawn Berlitz came to a halt in front of him. Despite what he was feeling, his face remained stoic, even when both girls shot him friendly smiles.

He gave them only a momentary glance before simply looking back toward his backpack, continuing to pack his things, ignoring them completely. He'd never talked to them before and he had no real desire to start now.

"Gary." May said, trying to get the boy's attention. Gary however, continued to ignore her.

"Gary." May repeated a little louder, only to receive the same response.

"Gary!" Dawn nearly yelled, finally grabbing the attention of the boy. She was lucky that she hadn't drawn attention back to them in the empty lunchroom; there shouldn't have been anyone entering the lunch room for this period, but they could never be certain. It would be wise for them to keep their voices lower than normal.

Gary's emotional state was already shaken, and the fact that two girls who'd barley ever said a word to him were now trying to speak with him just added to his distress. Though despite his feelings, he couldn't help but feel curious as to what these two could possibly want from him.

Part of being Ash's friend was adopting the cold and angry personality that he was infamous for. If at all possible Gary, like Ash, would avoid talking to anyone. He liked doing this about as little as his friend did, but it was a necessity in the life that Gary had chosen. He didn't regret it, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard sometimes. Remembering this, his curiosity seemed to fade a bit as another feeling rose inside of Gary.

Anger

 _"_ _ _Why does this have to be happening, today of all days?"__ Gary thought to himself.

"What do you want?" Gary barked coldly. Both girls recoiled at the sharpness in his tone.

"Ummm... How's it going?" May said, trying to strike up a conversation.

Gary stared at May incredulously before he grabbed his backpack and began to leave the lunchroom, knowing if he stayed, he might say something he would regret. He wasn't about to indulge in some stupid small talk with two people he didn't even know.

"Gary wait, we really need to talk to you!" May exclaimed, trying to regain Gary's attention in the now completely empty cafeteria. Gary, however, refused to turn around.

"WAIT! ...It's about Ash!" Dawn exclaimed, saying the only thing she thought would grab Gary's attention. May gave her a death glare; she was told not to talk and had broken that rule twice already. Though despite May's anger, this did seem to catch Gary's attention.

While they did capture his attention, Gary was still feeling hatred and anger towards the girls. After all, they were friends with Paul. Despite this, he hadn't forgotten what May had done for his friend in the past. To this day, she was still the only one who'd ever done anything to help Ash.

With this in mind, Gary decided to give them a chance to talk. He knew this went against everything he knew, but the fact that it was about Ash brought back the curiosity he previously felt, and much stronger than before. That, along with the jumbled emotions swirling around inside of him made him betray his number one rule:

 _Don't give anyone a chance to get to know you._

"What about Ash?" Gary questioned, his voice slightly less harsh.

"Well...ummm...you see." May was struggling to find words. Dawn decided she should jump in to save her friend, saying the only thing she could think of once again.

"May thinks he's hot!" Immediately after it was said, Dawn slapped her hands over her mouth as May went beet red with embarrassment. She tried to say something but for some reason, she couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence. Gary just looked on in bewilderment.

"Seriously? Is that seriously why you're here?" Gary said, annoyance evident in his voice.

"No! What I meant to say was..." Now it was Dawn's turn to lose her tongue. Mentally, she was slapping herself for saying anything.

Dawn noticed that May was still frozen. Right now, she wished she would have just left this up to her friend like she was supposed to. Dawn was terrible at thinking on her feet but now, she had no choice. She could think of nothing to say...

except the truth.

She knew it was more than risky and could possibly thwart any chance of them getting through to Gary, but she saw no other option after her screw up.

"We know about you and Ash." Dawn stated slowly. Gary looked almost dumbfounded at what Dawn just said.

"Yeah? And what's that? That we're both losers? A couple of 'fags'? Huh?! Or __your__ friend's personal punching bags? Go ahead, take your pick, because anyone of those pretty accurately describes what everyone ' _knows'_ us to be." Gary was now seething. He emphasized the word __your__ _,_ shaming the girls for ever associating themselves with Paul.

Gary had completely lost his head. He knew he shouldn't even be talking to May or Dawn in the first place, but he simply couldn't hold it in any longer. He hated the way he and Ash were treated and finally decided to voice it. He couldn't change it, but he could complain about it.

Dawn was taken aback by Gary's outburst, but continued anyway, "No, you don't understand! I mean we know who you are. Who you __really__ are. We saw you two yesterday at the foster home. We heard you talking to each other when you were fighting and when Ash was cooking dinner!"

As soon as Dawn finished...

Gary froze.

The feeling of panic was now thrown into the mix of emotions he was already dealing with. The first idea that popped into his head was to try to deny it, but he had absolutely no idea how he would go about doing so; they'd obviously seen them, heard them when they thought they were alone. Gary cursed himself and Ash for getting so careless over the years.

"...You spied on u-" Gary cut himself off; that wasn't the real issue here, "...What do you know?"

May, who had finally recovered from earlier, decided to speak, "W-Well...Barry heard you two talking in the bathroom yesterday. We know what happened to you both when you were younger. We know that you both act completely different alone than at school. You're good people! We just want to help you. We want to be your friends."

Both girls waited for any sort of response to come. Gary's heart sunk to his feet. This was a problem. A _ _big__ problem. And he was not in the right state of mind to deal with it.

Noticing Gary wasn't going to respond anytime soon, Dawn blurted out what they'd been wondering since Rosa had told her story.

"By the way, where is Ash? Is he... okay?" Dawn asked slowly.

Upon hearing what both girls had to say, Gary officially lost his ability of rational thought. He was incredibly scared at the moment and he had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation. He silently wished that Ash was there; he was convinced that he would know what to do.

Gary's heart were screaming at him to voice everything he was feeling. He needed to talk about what'd happened today, but the only person that he could talk to couldn't be reached. And now, here were two people that already knew more about him than anyone else in the world, that were willing to listen; people he might actually be able to trust, no matter how foolish that trust seemed to be.

 _"_ _ _No! I can't! That is way too selfish of me; What would Ash say if I do this?...But why don't I get to be selfish every once in a while? It's not fair!"__ Gary was fighting an internal battle, and the usually stronger side of selflessness was for once, losing.

Although it went against everything he knew, Gary did something that neither May nor Dawn was expecting.

Gary strolled slowly to where both May and Dawn were standing. He stared at the two girls for a moment, his face completely stoic. Then, without warning, he wrapped them both in a hug and began sobbing quietly.

Gary, unlike Ash, was willing to show his emotion, and this moment proved just that. He finally crossed the line. He let his emotions get the best of him and went against everything he knew.

May and Dawn were shocked to say the least. Here was a guy, whom no one had seen be anything other than angry or emotionless, crying his eyes out. Trying to shake off their surprise, they both returned the hug. This answered their question, it seemed. Something __had__ happened to Ash.

Now that someone besides just Ash and himself knew the truth, Gary felt that he could finally speak what was on his mind; something he hadn't truly been able to do since before his mother had passed.

Even before Gary met Ash and changed to accommodate this life, he'd never had any friends. The depression that haunted him after his mother passed lasted with him all the way until he first met Ash. And making friends while depressed was definitely not easy. The only reason he went up to Ash on that first day was because something inside of him was screaming for him to do it, because it felt almost as if he was destined to be Ash's friend.

Almost never having someone to talk to was more than difficult, especially when you lived a life like Ash and Gary did. And now, here were two people who were seemingly willing to listen. Even though he knew what he was doing was incredibly selfish, his jumbled mind wouldn't allow him to care for the time being.

At some point during this exchange, the bell had rung, but none of the three moved. They'd already accepted that they would be late to their next class. This was more important at the moment.

Breaking the hug, Gary began to speak, tears still streaming down his cheeks, "Ash...he, um... he got hurt. Hurt pretty bad."

"What happened?" May asked, her voice etched with genuine concern.

Gary sat down at the lunch table and motioned for the girls to sit as well. The lunch room was long empty at this time, so Gary felt about as okay speaking as he ever would. He decided to tell the whole story, feeling that it needed to be done to get the weight of it off of his chest.

"The place we live isn't exactly the safest. Robberies, assault, hell even murders aren't all that uncommon around our parts." Gary began, starting with some backstory. "We were walking to school when we heard a woman scream. Ash ran toward it immediately, so I followed him. Ash, he... ran right to this one ally, a spot with the highest crime rate in all of Pallet, with no hesitation. He had no idea what the situation was, but he was willing to risk his life to help whoever was in trouble."

May listened on with worry etched on her face. Dawn shared her facial expression, but as always, had something to say

"That's pretty brave, but also __really__ stupid..." Dawn said, being her usual, brutally honest self.

Gary glared at Dawn, his eyes filled with rage. He even momentarily considered storming out of the lunchroom without finishing the story. But it only took a few moments for him to realize.

It __was__ stupid.

Even at a time such as this, Gary couldn't help but let out a laugh at this realization.

"What's so funny?" Dawn asked, slightly annoyed, always being one to hate being left out of a joke. May was no better than her friend.

Gary stopped laughing and responded "Oh nothing. It's just, you're right... it was stupid. I mean, running into a potentially deadly situation completely blind? Not many people would do that. But hey, it was just Ash being Ash. He's always willing to put someone else before himself."

"Sorry to be pushy, but can you please continue the story?" May said, ending Gary and Dawn's conversation.

"Right, sorry. Anyway, the strangest thing about this whole ordeal was the fact that Ash just stopped at the entrance to the ally, he was like that when I caught up to him. He was just standing there, frozen for some reason, simply watching the crime in progress. I had never seen him like that before, he has __always__ _been_ one to act first and think later. So the fact that something had halted him kind of scared me. But I managed to shake him out of it. Right after that, he went to work. He told me to go get the van from the foster home. I tried protesting, I wanted to help him, but this wasn't exactly the best time or place to argue, so I took off running back to the home to try and do my part. I looked back just in time to see Ash sprint deeper into the ally."

Gary paused for a moment, letting pain wash over him as he recalled the next memory. Neither May nor Dawn could say anything as the overwhelming feelings of concern seemed to paralyze their vocal chords. Obviously this hadn't ended well.

"I took the keys to they orphanage's van and drove back to the ally. When I got there, the attacker was gone, all I saw was Ash and the girl. Ash was on his knees next to the girl, clutching his shoulder. I recognized Rosa from my chemistry class...I wish I knew why she was in that part of town..." Gary trailed off. The girls obviously had an answer, but no words would leave their mouths; they were too sucked into the story to provide an explanation.

"Anyways, she was unconscious, but for the most part, looked to be alright. After I realized that she was okay, I turned my attention to Ash. He hadn't even acknowledged me showing up. A pool of blood was sitting under him and it seemed to be growing by the second. I was worried that I might have been wrong, that Rosa _wasn't_ _okay_. So I looked over Rosa again, making sure their was nothing wrong and like before, she seemed fine." Gary paused momentarily, a lump had formed in his throat.

"That's when I realized, if Rosa wasn't hurt, then it had to be Ash. So I gave him a once over. He was trying his best to hold the back of his shoulder tightly, where the blood was obviously originating from. Once I saw the wound, it wasn't too hard to tell what had happened. He was stabbed in his right shoulder." Gary finished with a shaky voice.

Both Dawn and May audibly gasped when they heard of Ash's injuries. He'd gotten these wounds by saving a girl that had definitely bullied him in the past. He risked his life for someone that was always so terrible to him.

"He just kept asking me if Rosa was alright, over and over again, telling me to make sure she was alright. I was doing my best to keep pressure on his wounds, but it wasn't helping much. He was losing a lot of blood and it showed in his face. He was starting to turn white. By the time I loaded both of them into the van, Ash had lost consciousness as well. Thank god the hospital was close, we made it quickly. I dropped Rosa off at front doors, and then carried Ash into the building myself."

Gary let out a sad scoff before continuing, "So that was my morning, carrying my best friend, who was quickly bleeding out, to find someone to save his life. I was so worried that he wasn't going to-... that he was gonna..."

Gary couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, his sadness and fear cutting off his voice as tears began flowing freely down his face. May and Dawn couldn't help but let a few tears fall themselves. They had never had an actual conversation with this boy and yet here they were, crying for him; Gary's emotions were so strong that they were obviously affecting the two girls.

Standing up and proceeding around the table, Dawn took Gary into a hug, an action that was soon mimicked by May. It was obvious he needed it. Neither girl could get over how strange this whole situation was. Two days ago, they had hardly ever said a word to this person and now here they were, crying with him.

They stayed like this for a few seconds until Dawn spoke, "But he is...Alive...right?"

Gary began to recover from his crying fit before he responded, "As of this morning, yeah."

A looked of relief washed over the girl's faces.

"He's still in the hospital, probably getting a transfusion as we speak. I was going to stay with him, but he woke up right as we got there. He told me not to worry. He said I should come to school and not to be concerned. Of course, I was, but who was I to ignore my best friends wishes." Gary said with a sad smile. It was obvious that himself and Ash held a very high level of mutual respect for each other.

So as it turned out, the girls' theory was correct, it was in fact Ash who'd saved Rosa. They felt sick to their stomach's, words failing to leave their mouths; they were speechless. Since Gary had finished telling the story, both girls had let more than a few tears fall; it was just so unbelievable.

Dawn somehow managed to squeeze out a few words directed towards Gary."...Um...Gary, we're really sorry that happened. But if it makes you feel better, Rosa is perfectly healthy. She's even at school."

Gary let a small smile grace his lips upon hearing this. At least Ash's actions hadn't been in vain.

"I just wish he would stop being so reckless all the time. I can't help but worry that one of these days, his luck is going to run out. Hell, I thought that might have been today. But I doubt't that he'll ever change. He's the only person I've ever know that can successfully play hero."

"What hospital is Ash staying at?" May asked on a whim.

"Mercy Hearst over on Sullivan street." Gary responded without thinking. As soon as the words left his mouth, his eyes went big.

"But you can't go see him if that's what you're planning!" Gary exclaimed quickly, any and all somber emotions leaving him as worry claimed priority.

"Why not?" May asked with a quizzical look on her face, thinking they had completely gotten through to Gary.

"Because..." Gary tried to think of a way to word what he was about to say. "Because if Ash knew that I told you any of this, he would be... _ _very__ upset."

"And why's that?" Dawn asked, curious, but also slightly annoyed.

"Ash and I are pretty secretive people, as you might have noticed. He just can't find out that you know about who his is or what he's done." Gary stated firmly. Getting everything off of his chest allowed him to better control his emotions...and realize the gravity of the mistake he'd just made.

He needed to regain control of the situation, something he desperately hoped was still possible.

May and Dawn were both confused and annoyed by the vagueness of Gary's responses. After everything he'd shared, they thought that they'd gotten through to him, gotten closer as people. But Gary's words were betraying what they thought was happening.

Sensing a perfect time to bring this up, May spoke, "Why __are__ you guys so secretive? You seem like really good people, so why wouldn't you want people to know? I'm certain everyone would love you guys, especially Rosa if she knew it was Ash who saved her."

Gary hesitated momentarily, shocked by the forwardness of the question.

"...We have our reasons and although I can't tell you what they are, I can promise you that they're good. As much as it sucks for us, it's for the good of everyone." Gary reassured the two.

Damage control was proving just as difficult as he suspected. In this moment, Gary found himself wishing that he could just disappear.

Gary looked away, his gaze falling to the seat beside him before continuing, "That's also why we can't ever speak again."

May and Dawn gasped yet again, shocked by the words of who they felt was a on the verge of becoming a new friend. They were also not the least bit satisfied with the answer they received to May's question.

"Are you kidding me! Can't you see we are just want to help you?! We just want to be your friends!" Dawn replied, now slightly angry. May was feeling a similar way at the moment. The somber tone had lifted and then some by this time.

"I'm sorry and I wish it could be different, believe me. It seems like you two are very genuine people, but only bad things would come if we became friends. Thank you for hearing me out though, I wasn't sure how much longer I could take holding everything in." Gary said sincerely.

"What bad things? What are you talking about?" May asked, her frustration showing in her voice.

"Don't worry about it, I've said too much already. I have to get to class, you two should do the same." Gary said with a sad smile before standing up and leaving the lunchroom.

Dawn was going to try and stop him, but May grabbed her arm and shook her head, "It's no use, he won't say anymore."

"But our whole plan is ruined! We can't even go see Ash!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Oh, we're _going_ to see Ash... whether he likes it or not. I'm not giving up on those two that easily." May stated, smiling confidently.

Dawn grinned, "After school?"

"Yep, meet me by my locker." May winked before she and Dawn waltzed to her next class..

* * *

Serena had seen it all, even hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

She'd taken longer than usual to cleanup her lunch. Long enough that she'd told her friends to leave, thinking she was the only person left in the lunch room.

When she eventually went to leave, her eyes caught May and Dawn approaching...Gary Oak?

Curious at the development, Serena walked as quietly as she could to get closer to what had turned out to be a conversation. She was able to listen in to an extent, hiding behind a vending machine as to not be caught.

Having seen the two of them enough to know that Gary was Ash's only friend, Serena grew even more confused. First, May was staring at Ash's empty seat in homeroom and now, her and Dawn were talking to Ash's only friend.

Serena couldn't help but wonder why they had this sudden interested in Ash. As far as she knew, she was the only person in the school who knew what had happened to Ash's parents and she couldn't think of any other reason they would gain such a sudden interest in the boy she used to call her best friend.

After all, Ash had become a complete and total asshole. Serena still held some anger toward the boy for pushing her away. When she found out years later what had happened, the grudge she held against Ash had faded, but some of the frustration still remained. Frustration that he pushed her away when she could've helped him.

When she could have been there for him like he had been for her so many times during their childhood.

Despite her anger, she still cared deeply for Ash. He had been her first real friend and despite the friendship ending when they were young, she'd still yet to find a friend as good as Ash had been before the incident.

This was the reason she allowed Ash to distance himself, even though Serena was confident she could help if he would just let her in. But of all the things that had seemed to change in Ash, his stubbornness wasn't one of them. After many failed attempts of trying to become friends again, to help him...

To help herself...

She was forced to just respect his wishes. He obviously didn't want anyone around, even if that person was his childhood friend. Even many years later, this still hurt Serena deeply and helped feed the anger she still felt for toward the boy.

But despite her anger, she still held onto the hope that one of these days, he'd return to his old self and they could pick up where they left off as friends over ten years ago. So she did her best to keep tabs on Ash, at least while he was at school and so far, nothing had changed. He was still cold.

Still _different from the boy she used to know_.

She may have been young at the time, but even at age 8 Serena considered Ash to be her first crush, which may have contributed to the fact that she still held even a semblance of faith, even despite the anger she held toward him. Also, there was the fact that they were now in their senior year of high school, not leaving much time.

She could never love the person Ash was now, she hated this person, but she still desperately held onto the Ash she knew as a child, hoping that he would come back some day.

That the Ash _she loved_ would return.

And after so many years, it seemed he'd at least made an appearance. As stated, Serena had only heard bits and pieces of Gary, May and Dawn's conversation, but one thing she did catch shocked her to her core. And that was the fact that Ash was the person that'd saved Rosa's life.

Although herself and her friends hadn't been at the table when Rosa told her story, she'd still been able to hear it. News spread fast in high school after all.

Serena was elated that the Ash she once knew shone through for the first time in over ten years. She desperately hoped that this was a sign that he was coming back. Though, she quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind when she heard something else.

And this something made her heart drop.

The only other thing she'd been able to hear was that Ash had been hurt.

Stabbed.

And the worst part was, she wasn't even able to hear if he had survived. All she could do was watch as Gary, May and Dawn broke down crying, causing her to do the same. She threw a hand over her mouth as to not draw attention from the trio and cried as silently as she possibly could.

For minutes, her mind stayed on the worst possible scenario.

That Ash had died.

That there would never be another chance of them becoming friends, or anything else, again.

However, Serena did her best to keep her spirits high. She wasn't just going to assume that he was gone. She wasn't going to let that be the truth until there was definitive proof. Her spirits were raised just a bit higher when she heard the mention of one of the few hospitals in Viridian City, Mercy Hearst.

 _"He wouldn't be in_ _ _a hospital if he wasn't alive..."__ Serena repeated this to herself in her mind over and over again.

With confidence that Ash was alive, her thoughts were able to return to what was going on in front of her. The fact that May and Dawn were talking to Gary and obviously, had garnered an interest in Ash. Not only that, but Gary had opened up to them completely, even apparently telling them the hospital Ash was at to the two girls. As far as she knew, the girls had barely said two words to either boy, save for one time, Serena recalled, that May prevented a prank from being played on Ash.

It was all very confusing. Too confusing for Serena to fully comprehend at the moment. But despite her jumbled thoughts, she knew one thing for sure...

...she knew it was time to face Ash again.

She'd respected his wishes for years, but this was too much. For all she knew, Ash was near death.

She __had__ to see him again.

* * *

After the school day came to a close, Gary rushed to the hospital, desperate to check on Ash. All day in school, he hadn't been sure if his friend was going to be okay or not; he had the doctor's and Ash's reassurance, but he needed to see for himself that everything would be okay.

Gary hesitantly walked through the automatic doors of the hospital, immediately noticing the blinding whiteness of the lobby. He never was a fan of hospitals, not since his mother died. And the white walls, common in any hospital, just brought back bad memories. Though despite his hatred, the knowledge that his friend was here, hurt, gave him the courage to get to the hospital room as quickly as possible.

He rushed passed the front desk, not needing to be reminded what room Ash was in; everything that had happened that day was burned into his memory. As he came upon Ash's room, Gary took the time to stop and catch his breath. As soon as school let out, he literally sprinted from the school to the hospital, only pausing momentarily at the entrance. After regaining his breath, he nervously entered the room.

The first thing his eyes were drawn to was Ash. He was under a blanket, but it was obvious that he was in a hospital gown. He also had an IV inserted in his hand as well as a few other miscellaneous tubes and wires were connected to his body . Gary rushed over to Ash's bedside, only to find his friend with his eyes closed. Gary's heart sank to his feet, assuming the worst. Immediately, he started shaking his friend, hoping this was just a sick joke or something.

"Ash! Get up! Don't die on me!" Gary exclaimed, terrified.

Gary let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding in when he saw Ash stir and look up at him, very obviously annoyed.

"...Gary? What the hell! I was having an awesome dream!" Ash exclaimed, grogginess still apparent in his voice. After being rudely awakened, Ash rubbed his eyes and sat up slightly.

"Sorry... I saw your eyes closed and I thought you were... you know..." Gary responded sheepishly.

"Gary, I told you I was fine, the doctor told you I was going to be fine, and didn't you see or hear the heartbeat monitor right next to me? Or even hear me breathing?" Ash said, pointing to a machine that sat next to his bed that showed his heart rate.

Gary rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed, "Hehe, sorry about that... I guess I was just worried."

It was hard for Ash to be all that mad at Gary for what he'd done. After all, he was just worried about him. If he was in his situation, Ash thought, then it was likely he would've done the same thing.

"Don't worry about it, Gary. I appreciate you being concerned." Ash said with a smile covering his face, the grogginess and annoyance previously apparent on his face was now almost completely gone. Gary smiled back in response.

"So, what's the status report?" Gary inquired. Now that he knew for sure that his friend would be okay, he wanted to know what the damage was. What would have to be done in terms of further treatment.

Ash sighed, "Well... the bad news is I have to stay here overnight. The good news is I don't need surgery. The knife didn't cut deep enough to do enough damage to where it would need to be surgically repaired. So, they got me some blood, stitched me up and said that I'm going to make a full recovery in just a couple of weeks. They said I might have a little weakness in my right arm and shoulder, but the strength should return over time."

"That's great!" Gary cheered.

"Yeah, but there is one major problem..." Ash pouted.

"What?" Gary said, suddenly worried again.

"I"M STARVING!" Ash yelled, making Gary jump. As if on cue, his stomach made an audible growling sound. "They haven't given me any food since the blood transfusion and that was hours ago. It doesn't help that all I had today was an apple and some orange juice they had me drink here.

Gary laughed at his friend's antics. Ash did love his food, "Alright, Alright, I can help you with that. I think I saw a vending machine in the hall somewhere. I'll go grab you something, sound good?"

Ash nodded his head happily, excited about finally getting to eat.

Gary chuckled before turning to leave the room. As he proceeded to ward the door, he relished in the good feelings flowing through his body. After worrying about it for so many hours, finding out that Ash was going to be okay lifted a massive weight off of his chest.

 _"_ _ _I don't think anything could ruin my mood right now."__ Gary thought happily as he reached the door.

Gary opened the door and was about to step out, only to be stopped in his tracks. The mistake he'd made earlier in the day had come to haunt him, and he knew that the second his gaze fell on them.

His eyes wide with fear, Gary sighed and thought to himself,

 _"_ _ _Guess I spoke too soon...__ _"_

"MAY! SLOW DOWN!" Dawn screamed, running after her friend.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were so out of shape!" May yelled back, mocking her friend. Despite her teasing, physically she was about as well off as Dawn. She was just motivated and better at keeping complaints to herself.

May stopped in front of they place they were looking for, allowing herself to catch her breath while waiting for Dawn.

"That doesn't matter, you've always been faster than me." Dawn said in between breaths. May just giggled in response.

"So, any reason we had to run all the way here from school, rather than, oh, I don't know, WALKING!?" Dawn inquired, slowly regaining her breath.

"I'm just excited to finally get to talk to Ash. After what we've found out the last couple of days, I'm just really looking forward to meeting him. For real this time." May answered honestly, she knew Dawn felt the same.

Dawn smirked at her friend, "I'm excited too, but I didn't feel the need to sprint here."

May ignored it enough to grin in response, "Well, we wouldn't have had to run if you wouldn't have spent so much time fixing your hair in the bathroom. Trying to doll yourself up for, Ash maybe? Oh, or maybe you're planning on running into Gary?" May wouldn't miss a chance to embarrass her friend about boys. Usually, it was the other way around, so any opportunity was a precious one.

"Oh shut it. Let's just go in..." Dawn said, taking the lead with a blush widespread across her face. May chuckled and followed her friend into the hospital.

Dawn was about to go to the reception desk, planning to ask for Ash's room number, but was stopped by May, "Wait, we don't even now Ash's last name, how are they going to know who we're asking for? And if we don't even know his full name, I doubt they'd let us see him."

"Oh yeah... well, then it looks like we've got some hunting to do!" Dawn exclaimed.

May nodded in agreement as the two took off towards the first hallway of rooms.

The two girls managed to check the first two floors in about 10 minutes with no luck, but they weren't about to give up; they were more than motivated at this time.

May and Dawn ran up the stairwell to the third floor and proceeded to enter the hallway. The girls walked the halls as they did on the previous floors, checking each room along the way. About halfway through the hall, the girls noticed a door open, and a familiar man walk through it.

"Well that was convenient..." Dawn mumbled, immediately recognizing the person.

"Are you crazy?! If Gary sees us there is no way he'll let us see Ash. We have to hide!" May exclaimed in a hushed tone. They frantically searched for somewhere to hide, but it was too late, Gary had already seen the two and was currently frozen where he stood.

May and Dawn realized they had no where to go, so without any other options, the two walked up to the boy, who had his back to the closed door he had just exited. The two couldn't help but notice his wide eyes, accompanied by the nervous look on his face. It was obvious that Gary had assumed that they would listen to him and not come to the hospital.

As the two approached, Gary was mentally kicking himself for allowing his emotions to get the best of him earlier that day, causing him to talk to these two in the first place.

"H-hey, Gary." May stuttered.

"Uh uh. No way!" Gary exclaimed, obviously knowing what the two intended on doing. He'd just barely managed to regain his composure as the first words were spoken.

"What? All she said was hey." Dawn said, feigning ignorance.

"No! I will not let you talk to Ash!" Gary screamed, a little too loud.

"Gary? Is that you? Did you get my food? Who are you talking to?" Ash's voice was muffled, but still audible through the thick wooden door.

As Gary turned his head towards the door, Dawn took the opportunity to reach around him and grab the handle. Dawn managed to push the door open, but was again blocked by Gary in the doorway.

"Nice try, but there is no way that you're getting in there." Gary said with a confident smirk.

Dawn grinned at the challenge and looked to May, who already knew what she wanted them to do. Although May and Dawn were exceptionally beautiful and seemingly innocent girls, they were both pretty tough.

Both girls rushed at Gary, dipping their shoulders and driving them into his gut, causing him to fall backwards, his breath escaping him. With the opening made, both her and May rushed past the momentarily stunned boy and into Ash's hospital room.

Dawn and May high-fived each other and each shot the other a smile when the appeared inside the room. Their little celebration was cut short, however, as they realized where they now stood...

...right in front of Ash.

They both looked up at him, noticing his face contort with both worry and, more prominently, confusion.

"Ummmm... Hi!" Dawn said with a large, but unconfident smile. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Dawn. And this here is my friend May... May?"

Dawn looked over to see her best friend frozen, her eyes locked with the boy's in the hospital bed. She sighed and eventually, after many calls of her name, got May's attention again.

"As I was saying, this is May." Dawn continued.

'W-we met once before." May said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Ash shot a look at Gary, who just shrugged and sighed. He had to think of a way out of this situation, and fast.

He realized what he needed to do immediately Something he'd had to do to everyone for so long. Ash sighed, trying to preemptively release the remorse he was feeling and was about to feel for what he was about to do.

"I remember." Ash said emotionlessly in response to May, "You two are friends with Paul and those other guys, right?"

May and Dawn nodded, already not liking where this was going. This definitely wasn't how they wanted to be known, especially to Ash and Gary.

"What are you doing here and why?" Ash asked calmly though, his voice was still commanding and full of force.

The girls were slightly taken aback by this question, despite its simplicity. They both came here to talk to Ash, but now that it came time for conversation, neither May nor Dawn could find any words.

Ash sighed, "Fine, if you're not going to talk, then I guess I will. In case you didn't know, Paul, Kenny and Barry make our lives hell, just for their own sick amusement. What am I saying? Of course you know, you watch it happen! Just because you helped me once doesn't mean that you're innocent in all of this." Ash eyes narrowed in contempt.

"If you two associate yourselves with them, then I already know that I don't like you. So I'll ask again, what are you doing here, because in case you're having trouble seeing, I'm not feeling very well at the moment." Ash raised his voice, turning his back so that the girls could see the bandaged wounds.

Both girls gasped at the sight of the bloodied bandages as well as Ash's harsh tone of voice. May's eye's watered, tears threatening to fall.

"Well? Are you gonna answer me or just stand around like a couple of idiots? Do I need to spell out the fact that I DON'T WANT YOU HERE?!" Ash yelled harshly.

Dawn somehow scavenged up enough courage to respond, "W-we just heard that you got hurt and wanted to see if you were okay."

Ash glared at Gary. He was the only person that had known that he'd gotten hurt, meaning he must have been the one that blabbed.

"Well sorry to disappoint, but I'm fine. And don't worry, your friend Paul won't have to wait long before beating me into the ground again. Make sure to tell him that, so he doesn't get concerned, okay? I wouldn't want him to lash out at one of his whores." Ash responded aggressively.

Both May and Dawn struggled to fight back the pain and anger they felt at what Ash had just said to them; it was absolutely horrible. This was not the Ash they were expecting to meet here, this was the Ash everyone who didn't __really__ know them was trained to expect.

 _"_ _ _That's it."__

That's when it came to May; It hit her like a train. Ash had yet to find out that Dawn and herself knew about them. He was lashing out at the two in order to push them away, just like all the others. Even if they didn't know the reason why, they understood that much.

Grabbing her friend and pulling her close, May whispered what she had realized to Dawn. Finally seeing it herself, she sighed in relief.

"Ladies? Did you forget about me?" Ash got the two's attention with a mocking tone.

"Almost..." Dawn mumbled as she looked at Ash with a new found vigor.

"We know." May stated plainly; finally gaining the confidence to speak regularly.

Gary gulped. He was hoping Ash's routine would get the girls to leave, but he should have known better; these girls were persistent.

"Know what?" Ash asked harshly, still attempting to feign anger, though his curiosity was slowly taking over.

"Everything." May responded simply.

Ash's heart sunk. He knew exactly what she meant when she said that. This scenario was exactly what he was fearing from the moment he saw these two rush through his door. If something hadn't happened, then Ash knew they wouldn't be here at the moment.

He quickly looked to Gary, if only for confirmation. Gary, knowing what Ash was trying to say to him through the look, hesitated momentarily before nodding his head and looking toward the ground, ashamed.

Seeing that neither Ash nor Gary were about to speak, May explained, "Barry heard you two talking in the bathroom a few days ago. Me, Dawn, Misty, Kenny, and Paul all know. I'd like to apologize for this in advance but after we heard what you were talking about in the bathroom, we...followed you."

Ash was shocked at the revelation. How did he not realize he was being followed? He always tried to keep his guard up. More than that, he couldn't believe that these people had actually trekked through the dangers of Pallet Town for this.

"We all saw you...training, if that's the best word for it. So...we know about you guys, at least to an extent. And some know more than others..." Dawn added on to May's explanation.

"What Dawn means is, me and her know a bit more than the others do. We know who you __really__ are. As people. How kind and caring you are." May stated.

May paused, thinking of how to word her next sentence, "We overheard you guys talking when you were in the kitchen at the foster home. We know everything you do for the kids there. Dawn and I also know it was you that saved Rosa's life, and that's the reason you're here now."

"Is she okay?" Ash asked impulsively, his concern for the girl temporarily pushing the shock of the situation to the back of his mind.

With his own injuries plaguing him, he hadn't known just how badly Rosa was hurt after the attack. He'd spent the entirety of his hospital stay worrying about the girl he'd rescued, even with the knowledge that she'd definitely bullied him in the past.

May couldn't help but chuckle as Ash's light shone through his hard exterior, "She's fine, she was even at school today. All thanks to you."

Ash sighed in relief. This feeling was short lives however, as he was once again reminded of the dire situation that himself and Gary were now presented with.

"Before you ask, we haven't told anyone anything, not even Rosa. She does really want to find out who saved her though..." Dawn mentioned.

"She can't know. Nobody can." Ash responded firmly; he was sure of this much at least.

"Why not?" Dawn questioned, "You would be a hero! Everyone would love you."

Ash sighed yet agin, "Exactly. That's something neither myself nor Gary can afford to let happen."

Dawn turned to May and nearly screamed to her friend, "There they go again!" She then proceeded to turn back to Ash, "Why don't you want to be popular, a hero even?! I don't understand!"

Gary jumped in at this point, "Listen, can you two leave for just a moment. I need to talk to Ash alone for a second."

Dawn looked at May, distrust evident in both sets of eyes.

"No." Dawn responded stubbornly.

Now it was Gary's turn to sigh, "Please? I promise that when you come back in, we'll let you ask anything you want."

Ash shot Gary a glance that screamed, __"What are you doing?!"__

Dawn still looked a bit unconvinced that what Gary was saying was the truth, but after a very short back and forth between herself and May, they agreed.

The two quietly left to wait outside, leaving just Ash and Gary alone in the hospital room.

Gary sighed in relief as he finally had time for him and Ash to think in peace, if only for a few minutes. However, the relief he felt was instantly swept away when he heard Ash speak.

"Dude, what the hell were you thinking!?" Ash nearly screamed.

"Ash, just hold o-" Gary was cut off by Ash, who'd just began rambling.

"This is bad, this is very bad. This cannot be happening right now."

Gary kept trying to interject but Ash just kept rambling. Eventually, Gary got sick of not being heard.

"Ash!" Gary yelled, finally stopping his friend's babbling and making him jump in the process. "Look, I know this is bad, but I don't think we have a choice but to at least tell them something to keep them quiet. They're obviously just curious about us, so if we give them some information, they might stay away! Just having them here for this short amount of time shouldn't hurt anything."

"Gary, I don't think you understand! This whole thing is about to reach its point. We have absolutely zero time for this! We can't let May and Dawn be put into danger!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ash, I think this hunch of yours has got you going insane. There has been no evidence that what you're thinking is actually going to happen." Gary shouted back.

"...You're wrong..." Ash spoke quietly with a somber tone.

"What do you mean?" Gary inquired.

"Gary... the man who attacked Rosa...i-it was him." Ash trembled as he spoke

Gary felt fear surge throughout his body. Ash looked at Gary with a similar look of terror in his eye's, feeling the exact same way when he saw the man in the ally.

"Y-you mean... the same man that..." Gary started, but couldn't finish.

"Yeah, the man who killed my parents... he's back...just like he promised."

* * *

 ** **A/N: And there it is! Chapter 4 of, "Facade." I really, really encourage you guys to review this story; it's the only thing that keeps me going strong to be honest. I know I've released a lot of this story in such a short amount of time, but I'm just having such a good time going back and revising my old writing. Editing the first thing I wrote is both fun and humbling at the same time.****

 ** **I know that I just made the story rated T last chapter, but that is going to have to change now. Up until this point, I thought that most things were truly T rated. However, with the mention of attempted rape and even a stabbing, an M rated is definitely needed. So just to put that out there, this story is now rated M.****

 ** **Anyway, next chapter we finally get to discover why it is that Ash and Gary isolate themselves. Also, there may be a bit of a...**** ** _ **meeting**_** ** **...between some certain people. I hope you guys stick around for the next chapter! Make sure to follow the story so you never miss an update!****

 ** **See Ya!****


	5. Ask Away

****A/N: Hello everyone, and welcome to chapter 5 of, "Facade". This chapter is probably the one most everyone has been waiting for; some big questions are answered. Finally, a semblance of understanding our two main protagonists! I won't ramble on. Enjoy the chapter!****

* * *

 _"There are no secrets that time does not reveal."  
\- Jean Racine_

* * *

Facade

 _ _Flashback (Day of the Murder)__

...The man breathed a sigh of disappointment before he started walking away. For whatever reason however, he stopped after only a few steps.

He stood, facing away from Ash as he spoke, his voice as dark as his clothes, "I'll be back for you someday kid... and anyone that you're close to will be going down with you. And remember, I'll always be watching. Always."

Ash mustered up all the courage his small body could muster, "...Why are you doing this?!"

The man simply began walking away, seemingly ignoring the question.

Before he was out of sight, he stopped in his tracks. He turned his head slightly and under the faint light provided by the streetlights, a smirk could be seen on his face, "Why don't you ask your father..."

As quickly as he stopped, he was off again, disappearing into the night.

He barely even registered the words, the obvious taunt, his mind not even beginning to imagine that this was a clue to something. All Ash could do was stand there, shocked, terrified and alone.

Alone.

Ash knew what it all meant. He understood what death was. He knew that his parents were never coming back. That they wouldn't be there to watch him grow up...

...be there at all...

It was all too much for the young boy to handle.

By the time the police arrived, he'd seemingly run out of tears, leaving the young boy simply standing in shock; his eyes never once leaving his parents' lifeless bodies. He only looked away when he was guided into a car by a police officer, which would eventually take him to the police station.

He was questioned about what'd happened, but he just couldn't find it in himself to speak; he hardly spoke at all that first year after his parent's death.

Ash's silence left him plenty of time to think to himself, which turned out to be a nightmare; his only thoughts were the terrifying images of his parents dying and the man that had caused him so much pain and anguish.

But what occupied his mind most of all was what the man had said to him before he left. The words that had seared themselves into his mind. He already knew he'd never forget them. Even though he'd survived the initial attack, the fact that Ash knew the man would come back one day made him wake up screaming most nights.

Ash could't even hear a bump in the night without becoming terrified. Every unknown noise could be the man back to take his life. Early on, he wished he would just get it over with; the waiting and wondering had always been the worst part.

Ash hadn't been able to understand why the man told him to ask his father about why he'd done what he did. In the end, the only thing he could do was assume that it was nothing but a sick, twisted joke. That thought alone always made Ash sick to his stomach.

As he grew older, Ash realized he could do nothing but accept his fate. Apparently, he was never meant to live a long, happy life and over time, he was almost able to accept that. Though despite his near placation with what was to come, the man's words continued to play in his head everyday of his life, reminding him of a whole different issue.

He had come to terms with the fact that the man would return for him one day, despite not knowing why. But as much as he wanted it to be otherwise, that wasn't all the man had said to him...

He realized quickly after the death of his parents that he had to make sure that he was the __only__ one that the man would ever try to hurt again; that he wouldn't bring anyone else down with him, as the man so cruelly said would happen should he be close with anyone.

It wouldn't be too hard. Ash had already pretty much shut himself off immediately after his parents' deaths.

His first and most difficult test of this new lifestyle was having to push away his best friend Serena, who like almost all the others, was ignorant of the whole situation. Having to hurt Serena the way he did was still the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.

Ash didn't have many friends anyway, not since the incident. He just had to make sure it stayed this way.

Ash fully understood what this entailed when he adopted this mindset. He would have to stay absolutely alone until the man returned.

No relationships.

No friends.

No one.

It very well could have just been an empty threat, sure, but that wasn't a risk he was willing to take; he would never be willing to risk the lives of those around him just to appease himself. If this man was willing to kill his family, then he wasn't going to question the validity of the man's threat.

And so, Ash completely separated himself from society. He was just a boy, whom had not yet even reached puberty, and still he had the strength and courage to sacrifice any chance he had at regaining some semblance of normalcy in his life in order to protect others.

With Gary and Pikachu being the only exceptions, Ash stayed true to his word. It wasn't all that hard. With the personality he created, no one wanted to be around him anyway.

He created the facade he wore so frequently to keep people away...

And it killed him a little bit more everyday, but he was always willing to do it.

...to protect them from an evil they didn't even know existed.

 _ _End Flashback__

* * *

"...Ash?" Ash was snapped out of his memory by Gary's worried voice.

"What do we do?" Gary was in a silent panic. He needed Ash to fix things, like he always did. If he didn't have an answer, then Ash did. It always worked that way

"I-I don't know, Gary... All we can do is wait until the time comes for us to act." Ash responded unconfidently. He hadn't felt fear like this in quite some time.

As much as Ash would try to hide it, he was terrified of this man. He had taken everything from him and now, he wanted even more. The worst part was that he didn't even know why. He'd tried to find anything he could that would lead to any reason behind what'd happened, but he never had any luck.

With the whole scenario being swept under the rug for a reason Ash was never able to find out, there was damn near no information on what'd happened anywhere, even in police records and the internet.

Ash took the man's words about his father as far as he could, but he always came up empty. Ash had no idea who the man was, or what his intentions were.

The most disconcerting thing he discovered from his research was the fact that his own family's history seemed to be a mystery in it of itself. It was as if everything from the time before Ash was born had been erased. No pictures. No mementos.

Nothing.

No evidence that his parents even had a life before he was born.

Even when he was younger and his parents were still alive, Ash couldn't remember ever seeing anything from his parents' pasts.

But none of that mattered, not anymore. The man was back, and that was the only important thing now.

Gary was scared for the simple reason that Ash didn't have a way to fix this problem. They always played off of each other well in that way. If Ash didn't know what to do in a situation, then Gary would and vice versa. Together, they'd always been able to fix everything, but this... this was different.

Pushing the fear to the back of his mind, Gary spoke again, "You were right about one thing... those two being here right now is really, _really_ bad. This literally couldn't have happened at a worse time."

Ash scoffed darkly, "You've got that right."

Gary looked to the floor in shame, "I"m sorry Ash. If I'd have been more careful and not forced you to talk about everything yesterday, none of this would be happening."

Ash smiled sadly before he responded, "It's not your fault, Gary. It was bound to happen sometime. We both got careless. I'm actually amazed we kept the secret as long as we did."

Seeing Gary only nod in agreement, Ash continued, "So May and Dawn know our secrets...well, I guess you're right. I can't think of a better option."

"What do you mean?" Gary asked quizzically.

"We let them ask what they want to know about us and in return...they leave us alone. It's the only thing I can think of since apparently, they've been following us. If __he__ saw this, it might already be too late, but we're going to have to hope he didn't and get these two out of our lives forever." Ash responded sadly, though with conviction as he knew that this had to be done.

"Ash...this whole thing really sucks." Gary said, frowning. Now that things were reaching a tipping point, his negative emotions were increased tenfold.

Ash sighed, "I know, but it's what has to be done. We can't be selfish, especially not now. I already dragged you into this thing, I'm not doing that to anyone else."

The mood was heavier than it'd been in a long time for the two friends. The aura of uncertainty and fear hung in the air for a few moments longer before Gary, being his typical self, decided to try and lighten the mood.

"It's too bad you'll never get a chance with May." Gary teased. Though, his voice still came out a bit downcast.

Ash feigned ignorance and covered his slightly red cheeks with his hands under the guise of itching his cheek. Despite his shyness, he appreciated Gary trying to lighten things up, and he was willing to take the bait to do so, "What do you mean? I don't even know her..."

"Oh come on, like I don't see you staring at her every day in homeroom." Gary continued, his plan to get the dark thoughts out of their minds slowly working. They couldn't ignore it forever, but they both definitely needed a pick me up, a distraction, if only just for a brief moment.

Ash rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, knowing he'd been caught, "Ha, well what can I say, I'm a guy. And guys like girls. Especially girls as beautiful as her."

Gary nodded in agreement, pausing for a few moments to picture May and Dawn in his mind. If Gary could've had it his way, he would've loved to be a 'ladies man' as he very much appreciated their beauty, even despite the fact that he could not pursue any of them, romantically or otherwise. In another universe somewhere, Gary was certain that he was the ladies man he felt destined to be...

"They both really are beautiful." Gary said with a smile, sincerity evident in his voice.

Even though they wouldn't be able to have a relationship of any sort with anyone, Ash and Gary were still teenage boys. Thinking about pretty girls was natural, and always served to make them feel better, if only for a while.

Despite this, the two guys rarely talked openly about girls or relationships, mostly because they didn't want to depress themselves with longing thoughts of what they could never have.

As they giggled at their ridiculous back and forth, a knock was heard at the door.

* * *

"Shhhhhh, May, I can't hear." Dawn complained while trying to listen to the boys' conversation through the door.

The young blunette had decided to try and listen in shortly after the startling revelation that Ash had presented to Gary. They'd already spied on the boys once before, so Dawn didn't even question the morality of doing it a second time around.

"Geez Dawn, you are so nosey." May replied, leaning against the wall opposite the door with her arms crossed.

"Fine, I'll make some room... there, now you can listen too." Dawn responded, seeing through her friend's false innocence.

May happily skipped over and placed her ear against the door beside her friend, causing Dawn to giggle. As the girls were listening, people walking down the hallway stared at the two like they had just escaped from the loony bin. May momentarily pulled herself away from the door, feeling embarrassed that she was getting all these strange looks.

She was soon drawn back to the door, however, as Dawn spoke, "May, they're talking about you!"

"... _What do you mean? Oh come on, like I don't see you staring at her everyday... Ha, well what can I say, I'm a guy. And guys like girls. Especially girls as beautiful as her."_

May felt her face heat up. Dawn looked at May and couldn't help but let out a small laugh at her friend.

 _"_ _ _Beautiful..."__ May repeated the word to herself happily. Sure, she had been called 'hot' and 'pretty' many times in her life, but to her memory, no boy had ever used the word beautiful to describe her.

That word seemed to have so much more meaning and power behind it than any substitute. And despite not knowing him very well, after everything May had learned, she knew that herself and Ash would get along amazingly.

Dawn stopped laughing once she heard Gary speak, _"They both really are beautiful."_

Now it was Dawn's turn to blush. At the same time, May was recovering from what she had just heard and looked toward Dawn to see her scarlet red face. May looked at her friend and smiled. It was always nice to be complimented, especially by guys they themselves considered to be attractive.

The two quickly got over their embarrassment and shared a look before nodding at each other. They each knew what the other was thinking

Deciding that they had waited long enough, May proceeded to knock on the heavy oak door, hoping to garner the attention of the two boys inside.

"Ummm, guys, can we come back in yet? Everyone that passes by is looking at us like we're insane." Said May, her voice slightly muffled to Ash and Gary as it passed through the thick wooden door.

Hearing her plea, Gary went over to the door and opened it for the two girls

"Sorry about that. Not used to having anyone else around to worry about, I guess." Gary smiled and laughed sheepishly.

May and Dawn reentered the room and approached the two chairs that'd been positioned next to Ash's bed. Gary had pulled up a chair as well, but was seated near the foot of the bed rather than the side..

As they sat down, something popped into May's head. Something she thought Ash and Gary should know, "I feel like there is something I should tell you two. Barry was really affected by everything we found out about you guys. He feels really guilty about ever bullying you, but he's too afraid to go against Paul. He says he doesn't want to lose his friendship with him. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't think you'll have to worry about Barry being a problem to you anymore."

Ash smiled genuinely. Some good had finally shone through in a person he was beginning to think might have been hopeless, "That's good to hear."

Ash then paused for a few moments, thinking over what he was about to do. This allowed an awkward silence to overtake the room, but Ash didn't care. He needed to think things through before acting, now more than ever. After a few moments, he confirmed that this truly was the only option they had.

"Alright. Now... what do you want to know?" Ash said hesitantly. This was the first time he'd be revealing any information about himself to anyone but Gary. It definitely felt strange.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, deciding to play dumb as to not tip off the fact that they had been listening to that part of the boys' conversation.

"Well, it's obvious that you're curious, so we're giving you this chance to ask any questions you may have." Ash sighed, "All we ask for in return is that after you leave here, you both stay away from us... forever."

"WHAT?" May blurted out, while Dawn's mouth opened in shock.

Neither had been expecting that. That part of the conversation must have been hushed, because neither of the girls had heard them talk about this stipulation.

"If you want your questions answered, then you have to agree." Gary added.

May didn't know how to respond. The whole reason she wanted to find out about these boys was to be able to help them, to become their friend. Her mind was running a mile a minute, as was Dawn's.

"We agree." Dawn said flatly after almost 30 seconds of silence.

May shot a look of shock and anger at her closest friend for saying something without consulting her first. She caught this glimpse, but just shrugged in response; her curiosity had overtaken her in that moment.

"Okay. So again I'll ask again, what do you want to know?" Ash restated, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come.

"Well...for starters, how about you explain why you don't want to have friends, or at the very least be tolerated by other people? I mean, no offense, but your life seems like it kind of sucks." Dawn asked what she considered to be the most obvious question first.

Ash and Gary laughed slightly at the bluenette's bluntness, "Well, you're right about one thing, this life can get pretty crummy at times. All I can say is that I, and by association, Gary, act the way we do for a _very_ good reason. We don't like it, not at all. Of course we want friends, want to be liked by others, but there are... things that make doing this impossible. It's just what has to be done."

"And?" Dawn asked, obviously not satisfied with the answer. May was far from content with it either.

"And what?" Ash questioned back, completely oblivious to Dawn and May's annoyance.

At this point, Dawn was nearly fuming, "What's the reason!?"

Both Ash and Gary recoiled slightly at the girl's harsh tone, "I'm sorry...but I can't tell you that. I want to let you guys know about me, I really do, but I can't give out all the information...it's too dangerous." Ash stated in a level, but low voice.

The usually calm and collected May, at this point, was feeling very annoyed, "But you said that you would answer our questions! And I don't count that as an answer!"

"I said that you could __ask__ any questions you wanted. I never said I would answer all of them." Ash responded, correcting the brunette.

He knew it was a cheap trick, but it had to be done in order to protect the girls. Even though they didn't know it, the less they knew about the whole situation, the better off they were.

"Are you kidding me!? I can't belie-" Dawn began ranting, only to be cut off by May's hand being placed in front of her face, indicating her to stop, which she did, albeit reluctantly.

"Okay, fine... Then maybe you can answer this, if you and Gary can fight so well, then why do you put up with all of Paul's bullying? Or anyone's bullying for that matter?" May inquired. The annoyance she felt still slightly present in her voice.

"Okay, this is something I can answer. Obviously, you know that both me and Gary are pretty decent fighters. I'm assuming you know because you were __spying__ on us, right?" Dawn and May looked at the ground for a moment, embarrassed about their adventure in espionage.

Ash and Gary grinned at the girls' embarrassment before continuing, "A few years after I lost my parents, I starting training. If I was going to face the world alone, I needed to be strong, both physically and mentally. So, I began training in strength, stamina, and a bunch of martial arts stuff. Once I met Gary, I brought him into my routine upon his request. It was nice to actually have another person to do things with. Old heavy bags can only get you so far.

"The reason we accept the bullying, all the harassment from others, is all for one simple reason. There's already too much evil in the world, and I'm not going to be responsible for adding more by fighting someone who called me a name or hit me a few times. Gary and I...we try to be the light that breaks up the dark." Ash finished, conveying just how much these morals of his meant to him. :"Plus, I thought that if those three could just take out all of their anger on us, then they wouldn't lash out on anyone else."

May and Dawn were amazed by the mindset of the man in front of them, as well as the selflessness behind his reasoning. It was such a noble thing that Ash and Gary did, and no one even knew about it in the slightest. This further proved just how pure both Ash and Gary's souls were.

Ash took a deep breath, and addressed the main portion of the question. "And as for Paul..."

May, Dawn, and even Gary were listening intently to Ash's answer. Gary was hoping to finally discover the truth behind why they don't just beat the crap out of Paul and his goons. After all this time, he knew the situation with Paul was much deeper than just not adding anymore evil to the world.

Ash thought hard about how to word what he was about to say. He sighed before continuing, "The only reason I began learning how to fight in the first place was to be able to protect myself and those around me, and only when there was no other option. Taking a few hits an being called names everyday, in my opinion, doesn't rationalize hurting someone. The only time I'll fight is when someone crosses the line, when I'm forced to... and Paul doesn't fall into that category, not with what he's doing now."

Both Dawn and May were still somewhat confused by the answer, and May decided to try to get Ash to explain more.

"But how is that possible? Honestly, if anyone deserves a good beating, it's Paul." May interrupted, feeling no shame over what she'd just said. Paul really did need a reality check.

People sometimes say violence is never the answer but in this case at least, it very much seemed to be.

Gary smiled and nodded his head at Ash as if saying, _"Got a comeback for this one?"_

Ash couldn't help but laugh at the brunettes word's, "Trust me. Paul may be a complete and utter asshole, but he doesn't deserve it."

Dawn and May's eyes literally bulged in shock. After all Paul and the two brothers had put him through, how could Ash think this way? And the girls weren't stupid. They knew that the harassment they actually saw happen to the two men in front of them was just scratching the surface of what Paul and the others would actually do to them when they were alone.

Seeing the surprise on the girls' faces, Ash elaborated, "He's been... hurt ...in the past and that affected who he turned out to be as a person. As weird as it may sound, it's not entirely his fault that he us the way he is... That's really all I feel comfortable saying about this. If you want to know the full story, you're going to have to try to get it from Paul himself."

Again, Ash's words managed to leave the girls speechless for a few moments. Dawn was about to protest about the ambiguity of his answer, but ultimately decided against it, knowing that it would be futile to even attempt to pry any deeper.

"Anything else?" Gary asked after a few moments of silence.

Dawn decided that it was her turn once again. She asked the most basic question she could, "What's the deal with all of the secrecy in the first place?"

Ash sighed, "All I will say is that I promise that although it may not seem like it from the outside looking in, the less you two know, the better off you'll be."

Dawn anger was growing by the second. However, she was given a moment to cool down when May jumped in with a question of her own, "Who is the person you were talking to yesterday?"

The memory of Ash screaming at someone who didn't appear to be there had just reemerged in May's mind, and to say she was curious about that would've been an understatement.

"I only spoke to Gary yesterday..." Ash said, trying to recall what May might be talking about.

"No, it wasn't Gary. It was wh-" May began, but was cut off.

"I also talked to the advisor of the group home, Tony. Is that who you're talking about?" Ash cut in.

"No, it was right after you and Gary finished training. You'd both just walked inside, but you ran back out and shouted to someone _._ " May elaborated, clearly remembering just how strange that specific event seemed.

Ash immediately realized who May was referring to after hearing this piece of information, "I'm sorry, but that is definitely not something I can talk about. If I did, the result could be...-I just can't answer that, I'm sorry."

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad." Dawn said, both herself and May never even thinking that it could be anything all that horrible.

Ash seemed to be deep in thought about something, so Gary decided to jump into the conversation for the first time, "Let's just say that whoever it is, they've had enough of an impact to have completely shaped the way that Ash has lived his life for the past ten years."

"So this person is the reason that you act the way you do when you're actually totally different!" May screamed in excitement at finally finding another small piece of the puzzle that was Ash's life. Gary gulped, realizing he shouldn't have spoken.

Ash snapped out of his thoughts and shot a death glare Gary's way. Before anyone could say another word, a nurse walked into the room.

"Excuse me, but visiting hours are nearly over. I'm going to have to ask you to leave and let this young man get some rest." The pink haired nurse spoke sweetly before exiting the room.

May and Dawn sighed in disappointment while the boys felt more of a mixture of what the girls were feeling and relief. Having some actual human contact with anyone other than each other, no matter the circumstances, was definitely a good feeling.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then. Don't forget about our deal." Gary said sternly, despite actually feeling more than depressed about it. He knew that he was the one who'd chosen this life but sometimes, he would find himself longing for normalcy.

Dawn and May looked at Gary sadly as they remembered what they'd agreed to. May was struggling to fight back tears of frustration and sadness. She'd just had her first real conversation with Ash and Gary, and she didn't want what she saw as their budding friendship to end just moments after it began. While Dawn appeared to be more annoyed than frustrated, her feelings of sadness were akin to her friend's.

Even with the continued ambiguity, both May and Dawn had gotten to see first hand glimpses of Ash's an Gary's true selves. This, along with knowing all that Ash had done, made leaving something neither girl wanted to do.

When \ the two turned to leave, May could no longer hold back her tears. Those tears turned into sobs and almost immediately after, she was fully balling. She wasn't sure if it was because she was sad that she wouldn't be able to help them, or was upset that she wouldn't be making a new friend but whatever it was, it was affecting her a great deal.

Even with tears cascading May's face, and Dawn looking as if she would break down any moment, the two began to trudge out of the room. They were stopped however, by a newly familiar voice .

When Ash saw May begin to cry, his heart just couldn't take it anymore. He hated seeing people cry, especially girls. Not only that, but this was one of the only people who'd ever actually made a conscious effort to be his friend.

He desperately wished that his situation could be different, but he knew better. Despite that, he couldn't let these two leave his life like this; It had to at least be on good terms.

"Wait, don't go yet." Ash said, his voice flushed with guilt.

Both May and Dawn stopped in their tracks and turned towards the source of the voice. However, May couldn't find it in herself to look at the man.

"Believe me, this sucks more for us than it does for you. But I promise, this is for the best, it's what has to be done. I know it's hard to understand, but you're just going to have to trust me." Ash stated to the girls.

"And why should we trust you?" Dawn retorted semi-aggressively, letting her sadness momentarily manifest into anger. It didn't matter anyway, it wasn't like they'd see each other again. At least, not like this.

Ash thought for a moment, scoffing at his own thoughts before responding, "Looking at it now, I guess most of my life __has__ been a lie... But here, now, I have no reason to be untruthful. I assure you, I have been completely honest during this entire conversation. Gary as well."

While he spoke, May finally managed to look at Ash. Although they were unsure of what to believe at first, both herself and Dawn saw complete truth in his chocolate brown eyes.

"Fine." Dawn accepted coldly, anger still holding control of her. It had always been easier for the beautiful bluenette to mask her sadness with anger.

Ash was grateful that the girls believed him, at least to an extent, but this still wasn't how he wanted this encounter to end. He was truly touched that these two would even attempt to try and become a friend of his, even despite everything. These girls deserved far more than they could ever get from being associated with himself and Gary.

While Dawn turned to leave, Ash again caught May's stare, "I also want to say thank you."

Ash's words caused Dawn to turn around, the anger previously within her having left. Upon seeing the confusion on the girls' faces, Ash smiled a toothless smile and continued, "In over ten years, you two are the first people who've made any attempt to get to know us. To actually see who we are, even with the way we act. So I guess I just want to say... thanks... for giving us a chance. For caring about a couple of losers and degenerates like us."

At Ash's words, May and Dawn chuckled.

"You're both great people, it's easy to see that. Don't let that change. I have faith that you'll be able to do that." Ash finished, his mouth curling into a smile and his gaze never leaving May's

Whatever was left of Dawn's anger dissipated at Ash's words. Both herself and May's mouth's formed smiles as well as they knew that Ash was being genuine. It was obvious now that his reasons for staying distant must be extremely good; pushing them away looked to be killing him, and Gary appeared to be no different.

As the words fully processed, May seemed to lose control of her body. She rushed over to Ash and wrapped him up in a hug. He was surprised at first, but soon accepted and returned the hug. He could feel May crying quietly into his chest as they embraced. It was kind of a strange position, with Ash still seated on the hospital bed, but it was still pleasant to say the least.

With everything that'd happened, May was devastated that she would never get to see Ash really show himself to the world, and even more upset that herself and this person could never be friends. From what she knew now, they seemed so similar. May was incredibly confident that had the circumstances been different, they could've become extremely close.

After what he'd said to the girls, any doubt that hovered in their minds about Ash and his intentions were shattered.

May was not crying for herself, but for Ash. This wasn't the life he wanted to be living. It was blatantly obvious that he wanted friends...a family. But for some reason, he could have neither. She couldn't understand how anyone could live like this, but she admired his strength in doing so immensely.

As the two hugged, Gary was doing his best to find something to say that could follow Ash's speech. He silently cursed his best friend for saying something so eloquent and not allowing him to add in anything of his own. Gary was feeling the same way as Ash and wanted to express his gratitude as well, after all.

After a few moments of silence, Gary cursed himself and decided to just say the first thing that came to his mind.

"Ummmm... what he said...?"

The words came out as more of a question than a statement.

Dawn was snapped out her her state of shock and admiration for Ash when she heard Gary speak. She looked over at him and watched as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Seeing this, she couldn't help but burst out into a fit of laughter.

Gary's attempt to follow Ash's speech were more than enough to tickle her funny bone, something Dawn appreciated, especially with the somber aura that'd been hanging over their heads earlier. Upon hearing Dawn's laugh, Gary had to laugh as well and soon, the two were nearly crying from laughing so hard.

At this time, May and Ash broke their embrace, also laughing slightly with their respective friends. May walked back towards the cackling Dawn and shook her out of her fit of laughter.

Sadly, it was time for them to sober up and face reality once again.

"Come on Dawn, it's time for us to go." May said somberly.

Dawn's face soon fell into a frown as she looked back up at Gary. Before turning to leave, Dawn ran up to Gary and gave him a short hug. When the two broke the embrace, Dawn rushed to Ash and did the same before returning to May's side. The two then started for the door.

"We'll never forget what you tried to do for us today. Thank you." Ash stated before the girls were out of ear shot. Both May and Dawn smiled, knowing that even though they wouldn't be able to meet their original goal, they'd at least helped the boys in one way or another.

* * *

Ash sighed in a mixture of both relief and sadness as the two women left the room. Ash closed his eyes put his head back on his pillow. Talk about a stressful and exhausting day; so many things had happened in such a short period of time.

"...Do we really have to push them away? It really seems like we would get along great together." Gary pleaded almost desperately.

"You already know the answer to that, Gary. We can't be selfish and put their lives in danger just because we want friends." Ash said sternly, with some sadness also creeping into his voice.

Gary sighed in defeat, knowing even before he'd asked that this would be his answer.

Ash closed his eyes once again as a semi-comfortable silence filled the room. Feeling that someone was staring at him, he reopened his eyes, meeting the gaze of a wide-smiling Gary, who'd obviously recovered from his somber mood.

"What?" Ash questioned.

"Oh nothing..." Gary responded in a whimsical tone.

"Come on, what is it?" Ash pressed on.

"It's just not very often I see you interact that way with...anyone." Gary said, obviously trying to suppress a giggle.

"Uh... I guess so." Gary was a strange kid, but he was definitely acting weirder than normal.

Gary was still struggling to contain his laughter, "And what you said was just so...so touching. You're just a big sensitive oaf aren't you?"

Gary's voice was dripping with sarcasm. He was obviously teasing Ash.

Gary was about to burst into laughter before Ash spoke again, "I sure am, aren't I?" Ash sighed happily. "Girls sure do love a sensitive guy, but that much is obvious. Now what was it _you_ said again... oh, yeah, that's right, I remember. 'Ummm what he said...?'" Ash finished with a mocking tone, now laughing himself.

Gary just watched in anger as his joke was turned back on himself. He sighed in defeat, knowing he'd set himself up for this one.

"Ash, you are NO fun to screw around with!" Gary exclaimed, causing his friend to laugh even harder.

Gary sighed in defeat, "Well, I better go before that nurse comes back and throws me out. I also have a bunch of homework that I need to pretend to do."

Ash laughed at his friend's words, mostly because he knew he was being truthful

"Alright. I won't be at school again tomorrow, but we definitely need to talk about everything at some point." Ash said, his tone turning serious, "Even though I won't be there, you're still welcome to stay at my place for the night. And make sure to tell Pikachu I'm alright; he's probably freaking out right now. We'll meet at my place after school tomorrow so we can talk."

Gary nodded and smiled, "Oh, and I'll make sure to tell the nurse to get you something to eat up here quick."

As if on cue, Ash's stomach rumbled again. "Hehe, thanks Gary. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, Gary took his leave.

Ash sighed. Now that he was alone again, he was cursed by the thoughts circling his mind. He was exhausted, so getting some sleep seemed like the best idea for him at the moment.

So, Ash laid his head back on the pillow, hoping that the pain medication he was given wouldn't worsen his usual nightmares.

That was the last thing he needed after a day like today...

* * *

The girls were currently walking down the street from the hospital towards their homes, talking about what'd just transpired. Dawn was still in the positive mood she'd been in when she'd made her exit, but May's mood had noticeably dropped since they'd left the hospital. Also, Dawn had been the one to say pretty much everything up to this point, which was odd as May was never one who was considered the silent type.

"I think that went great!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Well...it could have gone better." May stated, her voice low and depressed.

"What do you mean? We learned some stuff! And we also got to see the __real__ Ash and Gary, first hand! You should be ecstatic!" Dawn retorted.

"Yeah, well that's great and all, but have you already forgotten the promise we made!?" May yelled, annoyed by her friend's ignorance.

"Promise?" Dawn inquired. It actually amazed May that she couldn't remember, especially since she was the one who agreed to it in the first place.

"How can you not remember? We can't talk to them ever again! We have to stay away from them, act as if none of this ever happened! We will never get to experience what we did back there ever again!" May answered, angry at her friend's forgetfulness.

"Oh... Right" Dawn responded, quickly becoming deflated as the memory reentered her mind.

The two continued to walk for a few minutes in silence. Both girls had their heads down, their eyes locked with the ground.

Becoming uncomfortable with the silence, May decided to break it, "You know, this started out being about getting Ash and Gary a couple of friends. Helping them be a little happier than they seemed to be, but looking at it now, this turned out to be about making us happy as well. Seeing how Ash and Gary are, knowing that we can never be friends is actually hurting me a lot. I feel like without them, we're missing out on something great. Like we're _supposed_ to be close with one another. I know it's weird since we just met them, but I just have this feeling that I can;t shake."

"It's not weird, May. I completely agree. We barely even know them, but I don't want to let them go from my life just like that. Ash is a real charmer and knows how to make you feel special, and I can tell that me and Gary would get along great. There's just something about those two..." Dawn agreed.

May sighed, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. A promise is a promise."

"I guess so..." Dawn responded hesitantly. "Okay, so we know that they act like they do because of some person from Ash's past, but we still didn't get an answer as to why why we have to stay away from them, why they can't get close with anybody. And what we do know is just so vague and generalized..."

"I know, but we're just going to have to trust them. I know that today was the first real conversation I've ever had with Ash, but I trust what he said completely. I have no doubts that whatever their reason is, it's a good one." May reassured her blue-haired friend.

"You're right. Even though we don't know what the reason is, it has to be a good one for them to have to push people like __us__ away." Dawn said jokingly, using her arms to put herself on display.

It was obvious that this dark mood was getting to Dawn, as was evident by her attempt to lighten the mood with a joke. May laughed at her friend, although she was still feeling quite down about the result of the day.

To perform her gesture, Dawn had turned around, walking backwards.

May also hadn't been paying attention...and it seemed neither was the person walking toward them. It wasn't long before Dawn and this other person collided, causing both to fall down.

"Ouch..." Dawn whined, turning to see that she'd fallen on another girl, "I'm really sorry about that. Here, let me help you up."

May wordlessly watched the two's exchange, not having been able to get a good look at the other person as of yet.

Dawn recognized the girl while helping her up. The long, beautiful honey blonde hair giving her identity away.

"It's okay, it's my fault too. I wasn't paying attention either." The girl said.

Now that she was standing upright, May, like Dawn, was able to identify the girl as Serena Yvonne. They'd never exactly been __friends__ , but they did know of each other and had spoken on a few occasions, mostly over course work.

Though, the one memory that stuck out the most in May's mind was just from earlier today in homeroom. She had been staring at Ash's seat...

As Serena saw who she was now standing with, her thoughts became much like May's. She'd seen May staring at Ash's seat earlier in the day. May and Dawn had talked to Gary during lunch. And now, she'd run into May and Dawn en route to the hospital.

Serena had a destination to get to namely, the hospital, but having the two girls here was just too perfect an opportunity to get some answers.

Serena snapped out of her thoughts just in time to see the two girls begin to walk past her. With a sense of urgency, Serena reached out and grabbed May's arm before she was out of reach, "Wait!"

Feeling the girl's tug and hearing her yell were enough to stop the two fleeting girls in their tracks. Both May and Dawn turned to face Serena, both slightly annoyed and confused as to what she wanted. They weren't exactly in the best mood at the moment...

Cutting straight to the point, Serena spoke, "What are you two doing?"

Serena hadn't meant to be so vague, but it was the only way she could think to word what she wanted to say after having been put on the spot.

Both girls looked puzzled. Dawn was the one who eventually responded, "Umm...walking home...?"

Serena shook her head, finally finding the words she wanted to say, "No, I mean, you're May Maple and Dawn Berlitz. Two of the most well known girls in the school. So why were you guys talking to Gary Oak at lunch today?"

Both May and Dawn's eyes widened at the girl's words. They'd thought the cafeteria was empty when they began their conversation. Apparently, it hadn't been.

At this point, May had still yet to make any major connection between Serena and Ash. For the time being, she was more worried about the general fact that someone saw them talking with Gary.

That is, until Serena spoke again.

"And May, why were you looking at Ash Ketchum's desk today in homeroom? You seemed almost worried... Now why would you of all people be wondering where Ash would be?" Serena questioned rhetorically. Her voice coming out slightly hostile; she didn't know what these girls' intentions were.

After all, they __were__ friends with Paul.

May didn't know exactly how to respond, so she just said the first thing that came to her mind, "Weren't you staring at his seat too?! I remember us locking eyes, and the only reason you'd be looking over to where I sit is if you were looking for something. For _s_ _ _omeone__."

Dawn watched the exchange, deciding to stay out of it for the time being. There was definitely some tension between herself, May and Serena, but she wasn't exactly sure why.

Now it was Serena's turn to fail to respond. She knew what she wanted to ask these girls about, but actually wording it, and not sounding so aggressive was proving to be more difficult than she'd thought.

"You two are coming back from Mercy Hearst, right? The hospital?" Serena questioned, hoping this would at least be answered. She was pretty sure that's where the two girls were coming from, but she wanted to know for sure.

Dawn looked over at her brunette friend, who seemed uncomfortable and confused by all the questions flying their way, especially since Serena seemed to know about what they'd been doing. Seeing this, Dawn decided to take the reigns from May for the time being.

"Yes, we just left a few minutes ago." Dawn said truthfully, hoping the vague response would be enough to satisfy Serena.

Sadly, it wasn't.

"Were you two there to visit Ash Ketchum? And before you ask how I know he's there, I overheard that part of you little conversation with Gary." Serena retorted sternly. She was almost certain this was the case, but she wanted to hear them say it.

Being put on the spot, Dawn tried desperately to lie, "No...uh..we were there to-"

At this time, May jumped back into the conversation, her own frustration shining through, "So what if we _did_ go to see Ash!? Is that a crime!? To care when a classmate almost _dies_ while saving someone's life!? Why do you care anyway!?"

May was in a foul mood from having to leave Ash and Gary behind, and Serena's poking around was just fueling the fire

"I care because I'm his friend!" Serena screamed on impulse, causing May and Dawn to recoil in surprise. Any and all hostility left May's body in a flash at the revelation. All that remained was shock.

"...What...?" May and Dawn both said simultaneously, their voices just above a whisper.

"Well... _ _was__ his friend," Serena cursed herself for saying what she did, and also for depressing herself over the bleak reminder of her current state with Ash. She immediately tried to redirect the conversation, "That's not the point here! The question is what are you planning on doing, huh?! Are you planning on pretending to care about him just so you can hurt him in the end?! Is that it?!"

Both girls had barely recovered from their shock before being yelled at again. Having registered the blonde's words, both May and Dawn's agitation returned. Would Serena really suggest that they would do such a thing? Though, they supposed they couldn't really blame her. They didn't know each other very well and from what Serena knew, it was a somewhat rational conclusion.

Serena took neither girl responding as an admission of guilt.

"So that __is__ what you're planning! Don't you think he has it hard enough without people like you making his life hell?!" May and Dawn still couldn't find it in themselves to respond. Noticing the girls still not saying anything, Serena scowled and put a deadly serious look on her face. "Listen closely, I still care about Ash more than anything. If either of you try to hurt him in any way, I swear to god I will-"

"That's not what we were planning on doing, we swear! Our intentions were pure! Just hear us out!" Dawn pleaded.

"We promise, it's not what you think!" May added. Once again, any anger had fled May and Dawn completely by this point.

Both girls were immensely curious now, and answers would never come without a level head.

At first, Serena thought May and Dawn had, for some reason, garnered an interest in Ash, which explained their actions. However, the theory that she'd vocalized made more sense in her mind. After all, she didn't know of any reason why May and Dawn would gain this sudden interest in the person who was once her closest friend.

Plus they were associated with Paul, and Serena couldn't help but wonder if they were just doing all of as some sort of cruel joke; To pretend to be their friends only to crush them in the end. She hadn't known May and Dawn to be the kind of people who would do such a thing, but her fear still remained.

Normally, Serena would never believe someone just because of one thing they said, one plea. But this situation was different. Serena saw nothing but complete sincerity in both girls' eyes, something which took her aback.

It was much easier to rationalize that May and Dawn just wanted to play a horrible prank on her old friend rather than trying to imagine what their intentions really were. Serena was certain the girls weren't lying as she trusted her ability to read people. They two beautiful girls' eyes were telling her that they were being entirely sincere. That their intentions __were__ pure.

Although relieved that there was no malice in May and Dawn, this left her with no clue as to why they had taken to Ash. In a sense, this made things harder.

"Okay...I believe you. But then answer me this. Why the sudden interest in Ash?" Serena asked, her previous hostility having been replaced with curiosity.

Both May and Dawn heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that they would no longer be on blast. But now that the anger was gone from the attractive blonde's voice, a flurry of questions entered their minds, even more than the one Serena had just thrown their way.

Normally, May nor Dawn wouldn't have been so inclined to answer, but the fact that Serena seemed to _know_ Ash in some way made it feel right. As if she almost __deserved__ to know.

Plus, they had a number of questions for Serena as well, and were willing to part with information in exchange for answers of their own. Again, they normally wouldn't have been so brash, but Serena said that she cared about Ash, and May and Dawn heard nothing but complete truth in those words. She wouldn't have been so angry if he didn't mean something to her.

"We'll be happy to tell you Serena, but before we say anything, you have to answer this first." May set her demands, "How are you connected to Ash?"

Neither May nor Dawn had forgotten Serena's slip up. She'd said the herself and Ash used to be friends. Before they would speak about what'd happened over the past two days, they wanted to hear what Serena had to say about her relationship with Ash. If she could convince them that she really did used to be friends with the boy, then they would talk.

Serena thought over what to do for just a moment. She closed her eyes and sighed as she came to a decision. She was more than curious as to why they had taken a sudden interest in Ash. If she had to talk about the past to rid herself of this curiosity, then she would do it, no matter how difficult it may be..

"I guess you could say... me and Ash were childhood friends." For some reason, Serena's words still managed to surprise the two girls. They were aware Ash had changed only after he turned 8, but it was still hard to imagine him ever having friends at all. From what they saw from him, Ash was only ever with Gary, or completely alone.

"But then...something terrible happened..." Serena paused, expecting a question to come about the 'terrible thing' she was talking about. This was information she did not want to spread around, so she was trying to think of what she would say to get around the question.

However, no question ever came. Serena was only surprised for a moment; this probably meant they already knew...

Having recognized why she'd paused, May eased Serena's mind, "You don't have to hold back anything, Serena. We know a lot more than you probably think we do."

Serena nodded her head in understanding. She was about to ask about how they'd acquired such information, but held herself back at the last moment. She said she would speak first, and she would honor that; the time for questions of her own would come.

"After his parents died he... changed... He told me to stay away from him. And even after I found out his parents were murdered years later, when I wanted to rekindle our friendship, he still wouldn't allow me to get close to him again. He said I would be...helping him by staying away. By not getting involved." Serena explained in a somber tone, "So that's what I meant when I said that we __were__ friends."

It was a strange feeling to talk about this so openly. Serena had never spoken to anyone about this, not even her mother. So the fact that she was telling this to two girls she couldn't even really call friends was definitely weird.

Despite this, these two people knew more about Ash than 99.9 percent of the world so in that sense, talking to them like this felt right.

All May and Dawn could do was stare with compassion as Serena's face contorted in sadness over the painful memory. If there were any doubts that she really did care about Ash before, they were completely gone now.

After a few moments of silence, Dawn looked to May, meeting her gaze. The two then had a wordless conversation. They could ask Serena to go into more depth at another time; having her continue didn't exactly feel right at the moment.

They were also now completely convinced that Serena deserved to know what they'd been up to the past couple of days. Having seen Serena in such a vulnerable state made sharing this information with her much easier.

"Serena, that's enough for now. You don't have to go on any further." Dawn assured the girl, who smiled appreciatively in response, "So you were friends with Ash... Well, that about sums up what we were trying to do. We wanted to become Ash and Gary's friends."

Hearing Dawn's words, Serena cocked her head in confusion. If they wanted her to understand, they would have to start from the beginning. Two very popular girls suddenly wanting to make friends with the two most universally disliked people in the school didn't make any sense.

"But why? What reason would you have to want to become his friend? I hate to say this, but Ash acts like a complete asshole. Gary too." Serena stated bluntly. She knew it was true, and so did May and Dawn.

Both girls giggled at the blonde's words. She was blunt, just like themselves, Dawn especially. It seemed Serena didn't know about how Ash acted when he was in private. Then again, no one really did; May and Dawn were definitely an exception.

"Not all the time, Serena... But we'll get to that. For now, lets just start from the beginning." May said, "It all started yesterday when one of our friends overheard Ash and Gary talking about themselves in the bathroom. Him telling us what he'd heard was how we found out about the murder. I guess it was mostly out of curiosity that we decided to... follow them."

"Wait a minute. What do you mean a friend of yours'? Who all knows about this?" Serena asked, not liking what this seemed to entail. Serena was more than concerned as to who exactly said friend was.

Both May and Dawn sighed audibly before the bluenette answered, "Well, myself and May obviously. But other than that, Misty, Barry, Kenny, and...Paul..."

Serena clenched her teeth, furious from just hearing the purple haired boy's name. Serena's dislike for Paul wasn't exactly a secret; she wasn't shy when it came to talking about her hatred for the boy. This was the reason Dawn was so hesitant to reveal that he knew anything about the situation.

"But they don't know much! May and I know a lot more than they do." Dawn added, hoping to calm the fuming Serena.

It seemed to work, but only to an extent. Not replying verbally, Serena gestured for the girls to continue where they'd left off before her question.

"We aren't exactly sure how much you already know, so just tell us if you're already familiar with any of this." May stated, to which Serena nodded.

"Okay, so we followed Ash and Gary home. The fact that his 'home' was the old orphanage pretty much confirmed that what we heard was true. While we were watching them, we got to see Ash and Gary fighting with each other." May paused momentarily.

With a question on her mind, Serena jumped in, "What were they fighting over? I thought they were friends...?"

Dawn ended up being the one to respond, "It wasn't that kind of fighting. It was more like...training. They were fighting each other, but it was like mixed martial arts. And they were good. Really good. Ash ended up winning by a good bit, but both are definitely skilled."

Serena's head tilted in confusion, "So... is Paul just really good at fighting then?"

May shook her head in the negative, "No. He's nothing special at all. That's why it was so strange to see. Paul, Kenny and Barry have bullied Ash for as long as I can remember. But despite that, I have never once heard of Ash or Gary ever fighting back. And it's not just Paul, it's everyone that bullies them. Even though they could do something about it, they just take it."

Serena looked to be concentrating deeply on her thoughts, analyzing the new information in her mind. This was a strange revelation to say the least. Before she could even think to ask why this was, Dawn spoke.

"When we talked to Ash earlier, he said that Paul had been hurt in the past and that's why he acts as he does now. He said that he only fights when he has to, when there's no other option. Apparently, that's the reason he doesn't fight back. He truly doesn't believe that Paul deserves it." Dawn explained.

"That's a pretty awful excuse for Paul to act how he does. Besides, both Ash and Gary have been hurt too, but you don't see them acting like, Paul." May mentioned, talking directly to Dawn.

"Well, I guess technically you __do__ see them act like him, at least in public. But we know that isn't how the actually are." Dawn responded, seemingly leaving Serena out of the conversation.

Serena didn't mind, however. She was too busy trying to think everything through to speak. Not only that, but she was also reminded about talking with Ash. As much as she desired receiving answers right away, she wanted to see Ash more. He could also provide answers. If he's willing, that is.

"May, Dawn, I really appreciate you trying to tell me all of this, but the reason I came out this way was to go talk to Ash. We haven't spoken since we were 14 and it's time that I confront him again." Serena stated firmly.

"Actually Serena...you're not going to be able to see him today." Dawn spoke slowly, knowing the girl would not like what she was saying.

Seeing Serena furrow her brows in confusion, May elaborated, "The reason we left the hospital in the first place was because they nurse kicked us out. Apparently visiting hours ended. They're not going to let you see him. At least, not today"

At the revelation, Serena's head dropped in sadness, "Oh..."

Since she'd overheard the conversation in the lunch room, Serena was dead set on the idea that this was the day she would talk to Ash again. She was tired of sitting back, only watching from afar. She was sick of pretending like they didn't even know each other. She cared about Ash and wanted nothing more than to be there for him.

And now, she was more motivated than ever since for all she knew, Ash had accepted May and Dawn as friends.

Serena found herself questioning why he would do that. Why he'd pushed her away, but let two random girls into his life for what seemed to be no reason at all.

Serena used this as a basis for the assumption that Ash had changed. That he was willing to accept people again. That maybe he would accept __her__ again.

But now, Serena would have to wait at least another day until she could talk with Ash. She was saddened more than anything by that fact. She also felt quite a bit of frustration as well.

As Serena was sulking, May was silently thinking to herself. For almost ten minutes, herself, Dawn and Serena had been standing in the middle of the sidewalk, talking about everything that'd happened over the past few days. There was definitely a better way to do this.

"Hey, Serena," May started, gaining the blonde's attention, "Since you can't see Ash today, would you like to come over to my house so we can keep talking? It's obvious that you care a lot about Ash, so I think it's only fair that you know everything that we do."

Serena thought over the offer that'd just been extended to her. She didn't have a problem with May or Dawn, but she __definitely__ had a problem with the people they hung out with. She couldn't help but wonder what that said about the two girls standing before her, even if they did seem like nice people...

Also, she couldn't help feeling slightly resentful. If they'd gone to see Ash, even had a conversation with him, then, in Serena's mind, that most likely meant that Ash chose to let them in, something he wouldn't do for her.

But in the end, Serena was still curious about what they girls knew. Chances were, it was more than she did herself.

Serena nodded her head with a small smile, "I'd like that. Thank you."

Although she was feeling aggravated and resentful, she still had the courtesy to remain polite, a quality she shared with May. Both May and Dawn nodded at her answer and began to walk. Recognizing her cue, Serena followed.

Serena walked in silence for a while, allowing the two girls beside her to have a quiet conversation of their own. As time went on, Serena felt her anger rise. And that anger was directed solely at Ash. She'd recognized that her aggravated feelings toward the two girls beside her was misguided. In the end, everything fell on Ash.

Why did he let these girls in? Was she not good enough to be his friend?

She wanted to know exactly what'd went down. And she wanted to know now.

"May, Dawn." Serena started, never missing a stride, "Can you tell me how you got Ash to open up to you? How you managed to become his friend?"

Both girls noticed Serena's voice was a bit shaky. Obviously, it really hurt her that it seemed they'd been able to do what she couldn't, even though in reality, they'd been unsuccessful as well.

Dawn sighed before responding, "I don't think you can really call us friends... Or say that he opened up to us for that matter..."

Serena looked at the girl quizzically. From how they were speaking, this seemed to be the case. Apparently, she was wrong.

Seeing the confusion etched on the girl's face, May elaborated, "Back at the hospital, he vaguely answered a few questions for us. But the deal was, in exchange for us being able to ask him anything, we had to stay away from them forever."

Serena's eyes widened momentarily before dropping in sadness once again, "That sounds more like the current Ash..."

Even though she was a bit resentful, Serena wasn't petty enough to not want Ash to make any friends beside herself. She just wanted him to be okay. She wanted the old Ash to come back, even if when he did, she wasn't in the picture. Just as long as he was back...

That was all that mattered.

Noticing that the mood amongst the three girls had dropped dramatically, Serena spoke again, "I just wish he would go back to the way he was before everything happened. Back then, he was the sweetest, kindest, most selfless person I'd ever met. Now, he's turned into a complete and total asshole. I guess him and Paul are similar in that regard..."

"Ash isn't an asshole." May responded immediately, barely keeping herself from snapping at Serena. She reminded herself that Serena didn't know; it wasn't her fault, "And he is __way__ different than Paul."

Serena looked at the girl, incredulously, "How can you say that with a straight face? You've seen him around, heard the stories. You've seen how he is. I know he used to be my friend and all, but he's a complete and total jerk nowadays."

Both May and Dawn shook their head in the negative, confusing Serena further.

"That's not true. That's not how he is. How he __actually__ is at least. It's all a mask. A facade. We aren't exactly sure why, but he acts completely different in public than he does in school. Same with Gary." Dawn informed the blonde girl of the truth.

Obviously, like many others, Serena had been fooled by Ash's act.

"As a matter of fact, I think your first description of Ash fits him a lot better. Kind, selfless, sweet. All good ways to describe him. The Ash that comes out when he's in private." May added.

Serena didn't understand everything yet, but she at least got the gist. From what it sounded like, the Ash she knew and loved __was__ alive and well. Just hidden. She honestly wasn't totally sure if she could even believe it. If Ash's current personality really was just an act, then he deserved an Oscar. The only thing allowing her to hold onto the possibility was the fact that Ash had saved Rosa earlier in the day.

Even despite her hesitance, she couldn't stop herself from letting a small smile cross her face. Even with how confusing the situation was, if there was even a chance what she was just told was true, then Serena would be ecstatic.

"But wait, how do you know this? And why? Why would he hide who he is? Why did he change in the first place...?" Serena wondered out loud.

Dawn was prepared to respond but before she could, May spoke, "We'll answer all your questions once we get inside."

Looking up, Serena realized that they'd already reached what she assumed to be May's house. The first thing Serena noticed about it was its size. It wasn't a mansion by any means, but it looked to provide a more than comfortable living space.

Caroline noticed the three girls immediately after the entered the home.

"Hey sweetie. Hello Dawn. And hel-...I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before..." Caroline commented.

"Mom, this is our new friend, Serena. Serena this is my mom, Caroline." May introduced the two women.

Serena stepped forward and shook the young mother's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Maple!"

"Oh please honey, call me Caroline. Mrs. Maple is much too formal." Caroline spoke sweetly, just as a mother should. Serena nodded in understanding at the woman's words.

"Mom! Is dinner almost read-" A boyish voice came from the hall. Max, May's younger brother, cut himself off when he noticed Dawn, as well as a new pretty face.

Pushing up his glasses, Max spoke, "Hello ladies. Dawn, you look amazing today. And, what's this!? A new girl!? My name is Max and might I say, I've always loved blondes. How about I show you around the house...?"

Max approached Serena, getting a little too close for comfort. Max was trying so hard to be suave that it was embarrassing. Not to mention creepy.

"I'm...Serena..." Serena commented awkwardly, backing away from the boy all the while.

Max was prepared to move closer again, only to be punched hard in the arm by his sister.

"Max, stop trying to hit on my friends. It is so, __so__ incredibly creepy!" May exclaimed.

Max rubbed his arm as his eyes teared up slightly. He looked toward his mom, expecting her to scold May for what she did. When he saw her doing nothing of the sort, Max's anger overtook him.

"Mom! Aren't you going to yell at her or something!? You watched her hit me!" Max yelled, frustrated.

Caroline was loading dishes into the dishwasher as she spoke, "No, I'm not. It really is creepy, Max. That's no way to get a girl to like you. In fact, that's a good way to be on the receiving end of a restraining order."

Max reddened in both embarrassment and anger at his mother's words before storming off to his room and slamming the door shut.

"Umm...Okay..." Serena stated slowly, slightly confused by the whole situation.

"Don't pay much attention to him. If you just ignore him, he usually just goes away." Dawn commented. Serena made sure to keep that note in mind.

"Sorry about that. My brother is kind of a freak... Anyway, let's head up to my room so we can talk." May declared, leading the way to the stairs.

"If you want or need anything, just ask!" Caroline called to the girls' retreating figures.

It didn't take long for the girls to find and enter May's room. Both May and Dawn sat down on the bed, while Serena took a seat in an empty office chair adjacent to May and Dawn's current position.

Knowing that Serena wouldn't want to wait around for answers, May immediately picked up where they'd left off.

"Okay, you asked how we know that Ash acts differently in private, right?" Seeing Serena nod, May continued, "Okay, well, as we said, we kind of...spied on him after school yesterday."

"Not one of our proudest moments..." Dawn mentioned passingly. Serena however, didn't seem to care that they'd broken some sort of moral code.

"After the rest of our group left, a while after they'd finished training, Dawn and I heard Gary talking through an open window. Naturally, we went to check it out. To make a long story short, Ash was cooking dinner for everyone in the foster home. Not only that, but apparently he does everything that their advisor is supposed to do because if he doesn't, then it doesn't get done." May explained.

"He does so much for those kids and yet, they don't even know it's him that's doing these things. Ash lets that lazy jerk of an advisor take all of the credit. I remember him saying he did this because he couldn't let any of the kids get close to him. That seems to be a common theme in Ash's life, doesn't it...?" Dawn added.

May smiled fondly as she recalled what, in retrospect, stuck out to her the most.

"What I remember most is when Gary asked Ash if he ever desired recognition for his actions. He told him that he didn't need it. That he was just doing what was right. That just know that the kids in the home got to live as happily as possible, despite their circumstances, was enough for him. That really stayed with me. Especially now that I know more about him." May finished, a small etched on her face, a look matched by the bluenette. But Serena was different...

Serena's mouth was wide in shock.

There it was.

Definitive proof that the old Ash, the Ash __she__ knew, was still alive and kicking. It didn't take long for a massive smile to overtake her features, accenting her beauty.

"That sounds just like how Ash used to be. Selfless, kind..." Serena trailed off happily.

Her joy increased the overall mood in the room tenfold. May and Dawn's own happiness were adding the aura as well.

A content silence lasted for a few moments. It was only broken when Serena asked another question, her smile fading from her face; she wanted to acknowledge a serious topic.

"You said something about Ash saving a classmate earlier, Rosa, right?" Seeing May nod, Serena continued, "Do you know exactly what happened? And if you do, would you mind telling me? After I overheard your conversation with Gary, I was terrified. One of the few things I managed to hear was that Ash had been stabbed. I even thought he might have been...you know...Had it not been for Gary mentioning that he was in the hospital, I would still be panicking."

Dawn nodded her head. She recalled what they were told earlier that day, "Gary told us, even though I guess he wasn't supposed to. Anyway, as you know it was Ash who saved Rosa. Apparently, Ash and Gary heard a scream and Ash just took off, running toward the sound with no regard for himself. Ash got there in time to stop the attacker from hurting Rosa, but he was stabbed in his shoulder during the struggle."

"He's okay right?! I was really hoping I would get to see how he was doing in person. How bad is it?" Serena asked frantically, being reminded of the fact that Ash had received such a bad injury. She knew he wasn't dead, but serious problems could still arise with such a wound.

Dawn smiled in response, hoping to calm the blonde's nerves, "We asked a nurse on our way out. He had to get a blood transfusion and some stitches, but no surgery. He'll be let out of the hospital tomorrow."

Serena let out a massive breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She silently thanked God that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

"Does Rosa know? That it was Ash who saved her, I mean." Serena asked, finally having calmed herself completely.

Both girls opposite her shook their heads in the negative, but only the brunette responded with words.

"She doesn't, and Ash doesn't want her to know." May stated, everyone ignoring how strange it was not to want to be known as a hero. It was a common theme with Ash and Gary, "All he cared about was making sure that Rosa was safe, even if that meant dying himself. And this is a girl that has definitely bullied him in the past. The fact that he did what he did is pretty incredible if you ask me."

"Definitely. That's the selflessness I was talking about." Serena agreed, "It was nowhere around the scale of what happened with Rosa, but the Ash I know was always helping people out. That's how we met, actually. I got lost in a forest during summer camp when I was really young, and Ash found me. He protected me while leading me out of the forest. After that, we were pretty much inseparable."

Both May and Dawn smiled at Serena's sentimental memory. Serena allowed herself to live in her daydream for a few moments, causing a silence to overtake the room once again.

It wasn't long before Serena sobered and pondered out loud, "So it looks like the Ash I know is still around, just well hidden... Now the question is why. I asked you earlier, but neither of you answered. Do you know?"

Both May and Dawn looked at each other before sighing.

"Not really... We asked him when we talked with him earlier, but he wouldn't answer. All he told us was that him revealing that information would be dangerous. That himself and Gary acted the way they did for a very good reason. He said that so many times that it was hard not to believe him." Dawn ended up being the one to respond to the blonde.

"He said something similar to me when I confronted him 4 years ago. He said I'd be helping by staying away from him. That me not being there was what 'has to be done'." Serena recalled the words perfectly. The events that transpired that day were permanently etched into her mind, "It looks like he truly believes that he has to keep everyone away to keep them out of harms way. But...how is it dangerous...?"

"Well, we did find discover one thing. How Ash acts is influenced by someone, a person. We don't know who, or why, but someone was the cause for Ash's change."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Dawn couldn't help but giggle, "Good thing Gary has a big mouth. Ash would've never told us that."

May scoffed at her best friend, "Well, I guess that's one thing you two have in common then!"

Dawn stuck out her tongue, causing May to laugh. Serena couldn't help but smile at the interaction between the two girls. It was obvious that they were the best of friends, closer than even family.

Serena didn't really have anybody she could call a best friend. Not since Ash, at least. Sure, she had plenty of friends, but none of them shared a closeness with her like the one May and Dawn did. She was a bit envious of them for that, actually.

Both May and Dawn calmed themselves and looked back to Serena, who seemed as if she wanted to say something.

"So..." Serena started slowly, "What are you going to do now? Are you going to stick to what you said? Are you really going to stay away from Ash after today?"

Serena's questions hovered in the air for a few moments. She almost regretted asking as the girls' contorted their faced in sadness at the thought.

"I really don't know... For some reason, I truly believe what he said. That him needing us to stay away from him and Gary is for a very good reason. So yeah, I want to say that we'll honor the promise...but I just don't know if I can do that. I guess we'll at least have to try, no matter how much we don't want to." Dawn answered, all of the previous excitement and joy in her voice from before completely gone.

Serena looked at the bluenette with compassion. She was going through nearly the same thing that she had just over 4 years prior. And speaking from experience, it was hard to deal with.

May, whom was staring downward, began to speak, "At first this started out purely for Ash and Gary. All I wanted to do was help two guys try to better their lives. To make friends and just be happier overall. But now, knowing what I do, I can honestly say that this turned into something that I wanted for myself. For my own happiness. Even now, I can't help but feel that I want nothing more than to have Ash and Gary in my life."

Dawn nodded solemnly in agreement while Serena let her own eyes fall downward, hesitance entering her mind for the first time today. She'd been so gungho to run off to see Ash that she hadn't stopped to think about what she was actually planning on doing. May's situation reminded her of the reason she'd left Ash alone all those years ago. It was __his__ insistence, and her belief in his words that made her listen to him.

"I know exactly how you feel. That's how I've been since the beginning of high school. I've been able to respect Ash's wishes for so long, but seeing you guys acknowledging him has made it really hard. Especially now that I know that the real him is still there. But as much as I want to see him again, I'm afraid I'm doing the wrong thing. He asked me to stay away, and as you both said, it's for a good reason. Should I really go against his wishes just because I want to be selfish?" Serena wondered out loud, hoping desperately for an answer.

The three girls had only talked with each other for a couple of hours at most, but Serena still felt comfortable asking May and Dawn for advice. And it wasn't just because they were the only other people who understood the situation. Serena also felt a certain connection to these girls. Like they were destined to meet. Maybe even become friends...

May looked at Serena with compassion filled eyes. To an extent, she knew what she was going through. Herself and Dawn were also struggling with what exactly to do regarding the whole situation. The only difference between them was that Serena had known Ash from childhood, which no doubt made this harder for her. Neither Dawn nor May could even fathom this being more difficult than it already was.

"Serena, I really do think you should try to talk to him again. Even if nothing comes of it, worth a shot. If nothing else, you at least might get a chance to get some closure." May offered her opinion. It may have sounded somewhat pessimistic, but it was the truth, and everyone there knew it.

Ash and Gary were insistent on keeping people away from them. May and Dawn had seen this first hand just hours ago.

It wasn't that May's words hadn't helped Serena, they really had. She'd even decided that she would go through with talking to Ash tomorrow. The only problem was her fear of how that talk would go.

 _ _'Finding closure'__

Just the thought of that nearly brought a tear to Serena's eye. That wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to have to let go of the sliver of hope she'd always held for her and Ash's relationship, especially with all of the new knowledge that she'd acquired. She just wanted her best friend back. And now, he felt closer than ever, but in reality, he was still so far away...

But no matter how slim the chances were of Ash accepting her again, there was no way to know if she didn't try. If he continued to reject her, then she would have little choice than to separate herself from Ash, for what most likely would be forever. But either way, Serena had to know. She couldn't keep living like this.

"Serena, are you okay?" Dawn questioned softly. This confused Serena slightly. Obviously something was wrong, but she didn't think she was showing it too openly.

It wasn't until she watched a warm droplet fall onto her lap that she moved again. Seeing this, she slowly brought her hand to her face, immediately noticing that her cheeks were wet with tears. She'd started crying without even realizing it.

"Yeah... Yeah. It's just... a lot to think about, you know?" Serena questioned through her tears, which were still pouring out. Her voice was cracking with emotion.

Seeing Serena's tear flow increase, and her sobs beginning to become audible, both girls walked to Serena's side, each placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, rubbing gently.

"Trust me Serena, we know what you're feeling. When we first found everything out, I didn't know if I'd be able to handle it. The only thing that kept me sane was Dawn here." May motioned to her bluenette best friend. "And because of your history with Ash, I can't even imagine how difficult this must be for you.

"I think now that you've talked about everything, you're going to feel a lot better. That's the only thing that helped us. Having a friend to help deal with everything helped a lot. And now that we're friends, you can always talk to us. About anything!" Dawn finished, beaming a smile Serena's way.

Serena's eyes slowed the production of tears as she looked up at the two girls at her side. She had to admit, even despite the crying and the emotional roller coaster that was their conversation, it really did feel good to finally tell someone about this. But...did one conversation really mean...

"Are we really friends now? I mean, I was pretty awful to you when we first met. Are you sure you want a friend like me?" Serena questioned unconfidently.

That had been an issue for Serena ever since she made that promise to Ash. Her confidence when it came to relationships of any kind was abysmal at best; she always feared that a repeat of what Ash had done would occur again. This was most likely the reason she hadn't had a close friend since Ash.

Both May and Dawn looked at Serena as if she was crazy.

"Of course! Don't you think after everything today, we can call each other friends? I sure think so." Dawn stated cheerfully.

"You seem like a really sweet girl, Serena. And I can tell we have a lot in common, even more so than just Ash. We would both really love it if you would be our friend." May said, a happy smile present on her face.

For just a few minutes, they could forget about what'd happened and just relax. Even Serena's mind was off of the raven haired boy for the moment.

The last of Serena's tears had fallen just after Dawn had spoken. Now, only a large smile was presented on her face. Her eyes were still rimmed red, but other than that, it was easy to tell that she was elated.

"I'd really like that. And plus, we know we already have __one__ thing in common." Serena joked. All three girls shared a laugh at her words.

For the first time since Ash, Serena actually felt as if someone or rather, two someones, could be that true friend she hadn't known she needed. People that she could talk to about anything. Obviously, they weren't there yet, but Serena felt positive about what was to come. She really hoped that what she was feeling was correct.

For the first time of the day, the silence the three found themselves in wasn't entirely uncomfortable. May and Dawn were happy that they'd come out of this whole experience with a new friend, if nothing else.

After a few moments, Serena looked to May's alarm clock on the bedside table. Seeing the time, she decided it was time to take her leave.

Serena stood up, catching May and Dawn's attention, "Well, I better get going. It's getting kind of late. I really appreciate you guys telling me everything you did. And you were right, Dawn. Finally talking about this definitely helped."

"Of course! It was actually helpful for us as well," May beamed. At this time, another thought reentered her mind, "And please, make sure to tell us how the talk with Ash goes. Even though we promised to stay away, I still want the best for him and Gary."

Serena's eyes hardened in determination as she was reminded of tomorrow's task. Serena nodded her head in agreement. Even with her confidence, she had a feeling she knew how the confrontation would go. And if it ended up at all similar to the way she thought it would, then she was definitely going to need to talk about it. Have somebody to cry to...

May and Dawn exchanged phone numbers with Serena before allowing her to take her leave. Unintentionally, May's mention of Ash had brought the mood down once again. Of course they were happy to have a new friend in Serena, but both girls wanted nothing more than Ash's and Gary's companionship, especially now that it seemed so far out of reach.

"You know Ash isn't going to accept her, right?" Dawn asked her brunette friend dejectedly. She didn't want her new friend to have to go through what she already had again, but she knew that Serena needed closure on the situation.

May sighed loudly, "I know...I think Serena just really wants to see Ash. Especially now that she knows he's still the person she was once friends with. She needs this."

An uncomfortable silence retook the room, sapping the energy from the two girls. It was minutes before a sound was made.

"Can I say something, Dawn? May asked. She didn't know why she had though, of course she knew the answer already. May took seeing Dawn nod as a sign to continue.

"All we did today was talk to a couple of people. When you think about it, it really shouldn't be that big of a deal. Yet... I can't help but feel like today was one of the most important days of my life." May stated. All the while a lone tear cascade down her face.

They knew even during their moment of happiness with Serena that this was coming. That they'd have to face the sadness that came along with their rejected acquaintanceship. The situation sucked to say the least.

Normally, this wouldn't be that big of a deal. But there wa just something about this situation in particular. To May and Dawn, becoming friends with Ash and Gary felt like something they had to do. Like that's how it's supposed to be. And now that they were here, with all of this information, this felt truer than ever. But of course, fate always had a funny way of working out.

Dawn was just as upset with their situation as May was, but seeing her friends state, she knew she had to try to be strong for her friend. Dawn scooted closer to May on the bed and brought her into a hug, where the brunette allowed herself to let out a few more tears. A few minutes later, May regained control of herself and looked Dawn in the eye.

"Better?" Dawn inquired softly.

"Yeah. Thanks Dawn." May said with a smile.

"Hey, that's what best friends are for." Dawn retorted with a proud smirk on her face. May just smiled in response.

Now that she'd gotten out the tears she'd been holding in, her mind was clear to think about what needed to change in the future. One thing in particular stuck out to her the most...

"Speaking of friends, what are we going to do about Paul? I mean, there is no way I'm going to put up with that asshole picking on Gary and Ash anymore." May spoke firmly, almost aggressively.

"I know what you mean. I hated Paul before all of this but now, I __really__ hate him." Dawn's tone was cold as she spoke about the purple haired boy. Taking a breathe as to expel the anger, she continued, "Still though, he's dating Misty and she's our friend, so we're going to have to tolerate him, at least to an extent."

"Fine, but I'm not going to sit back and watch Ash and Gary get bullied by him anymore. And it's more than obvious that he's affecting our friendship with Misty." May reminded her bluenette friend.

"I'm with you there. Paul has changed Misty, and definitely not for the better. She used to be so nice and sweet but now, she's kind of a bitch." Dawn spoke truthfully. Despite Misty being her friend, she could think of no better word to describe her.

"Yeah, she's definitely not the same girl she was before Paul came along. I just don't understand why everyone likes Paul so much. I guess no one else can really tell just how much of a jerk he is, and Misty is no exception. I wish he would just disappear, it would be better for everyone!" May raised her voice, releasing her pent up frustration before continuing on, "But no matter how we feel about Paul, Misty is still our friend and it's our job to make sure she doesn't turn into him. We have to be there for her."

"You're right, we've been best friends for as long as I can remember, and I really don't want to lose that friendship. But we're definitely going to have to work to change Misty back to the way she was before all of this." Dawn added before standing to her feet.

"I gotta go, it's getting late. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Dawn asked.

"Sure thing, bright and early!" May responded brightly.

"Okay, see you later!" Dawn stated with a wave before leaving the room and eventually, the house.

* * *

 ** **A/N: Alright! That was definitely a long chapter, even by my standards. But after this chapter, you all finally know exactly why Ash and Gary isolate themselves. Although it's been hinted at, the real reason hasn't been said until now.****

 ** **Not only that, but Serena, May and Dawn have their first meeting. Normally, I wouldn't have been so long winded with May and Dawn explaining everything (you already know it after all), but I really wanted to capture what Serena felt while being told everything. Not only that, it's a good reminder in case anything has slipped your mind.****

 ** **Anyway, chapter 6 will be out soon. Also, my other story, "A Trial of Will", will be receiving an update soon. If you haven't checked it out yet, then I urge you to do so ;)****

 ** **One thing I would like to add before I go, if any of you are looking for another story to read between updates for this one, then may I suggest "Advanced Commando" By: My Wunderwaffle Iz Missing. Like "Facade", "Advanced Commando" is an AU fic which features Ash as an elite soldier sent to Hoenn to head a military police task force. Along the way, he meets May during a mission (yes, it's advanceshipping), the daughter of a billionaire. The first two chapters are intense and packed full of action and will definitely draw you in. There's plenty, plenty of drama that leaves you wanting more each time a chapter ends. Head over there and check out the summary if you're interested. I promise, it's definitely worth the read!****

 ** **That's all I've got for you guys right now. So...See Ya!****


	6. Ruthless Agression

****A/N: There's something I'd like to do before the chapter gets started. I recently found a story called, "The Blue Spirit" By: Silentplayermc03. I'm mentioning it here as it is turing out to be one of my current favorite stories I'm reading, and I would love to help it get some more well deserved recognition.****

 ** **I will also be plugging "The Blue Spirit" in the next chapter of "A Trial of Will", as that story obviously has a lot more followers and views than this one (Almost at 30,000 views! WOO!)****

 ** **The story includes a stronger Ash, as well as Poke/Advance/Pearl/Amour shippings (amongst others ;). Here's the summary of the story, "**** ** _ **A vision has been seen by Arceus: a world covered in darkness, corrupting both humans and Pokemon but there is hope as it also showed two heroes fighting against it. A plan is formed to prepare for war by entering an upcoming tournament to test their strength before it starts. Old & new friends meet, relationships are made & emotions run high. Rated M for violence/language/lemons."**_**

 ** **And trust me, the summary doesn't do the story justice. It really is a fun read. And if you're hesitant because of the lemons, let me say that the way they are written is very tasteful and well done. It won't make you uncomfortable like in some stories where people don't know how to write them or they don't fit into the story. Please do give it a read.****

 ** **Anyway, enjoy chapter 6 of Facade. A lot is going to happen this chapter. The plot is really starting the thicken!****

* * *

Facade

"Well Mr. Ketchum, here is your discharge information. Usually we would have the parents take care of all of this, but I see here that you're 18th birthday was just a few days ago! Happy birthday young __man__!" The nurse told Ash, glancing up from her clipboard. You could tell there was a cheery smile on her face just from the sound of the woman's voice.

Ash winced as he listened to the woman's words, having been reminded of his situation. Though, he knew it wasn't the nurse's fault; it wasn't as if she knew his life story. Putting on a fake smile, Ash signed the papers he was given and returned them to the woman.

"You're lucky you don't need surgery, those wounds were pretty severe. You must've had someone watching out for you." The nurse stated, attempting to strike up a brief conversation, "How did you say you got them again?"

Ash sighed quietly. She just had to keep talking...

"I didn't." Ash responded coldly while putting on his ripped and blood-stained T-shirt from the previous day. He really didn't want to explain everything that was going on to the nurse, so telling her what'd happen was a definite no-no.

He'd already been forced to talk to the police about the incident earlier in the morning. Much to the officers' chagrin, Ash was all but willing to part with much information.

The police had tried and failed to catch this man years ago, the investigation even resulting in the deaths of a few officers. There was no way they would ever find the man responsible, Ash understood that perfectly. Even to Ash, hardly anything was known about the man other than the fact that he was extremely dangerous; not exactly a lot to go on in terms of an investigation. Plus for some odd reason, anything that did come up about the man and what he'd done seemed to be hidden away. Ash didn't want to yell 'conspiracy', but he really didn't have any other ideas as to what it could be other than dirt cops being paid off...

Plus, the man was after Ash, not these random civilians, so putting the police in danger when he knew that nothing would come of it seemed ridiculous.

The situation that'd occurred with Rosa the other day had only happened because the man _knew_ perfectly well that Ash would get involved. It was never about the girl. This whole thing was all about getting to Ash.

Ash played dumb with everyone, stating that he remembered almost nothing about the incident. Based on the wounds, the medical staff could only assume the boy's injuries were the result of a robbery that'd ended in attempted murder, not something terribly uncommon, especially in the part of town that it'd occurred in.

But Ash knew better.

It was definitely not a robbery...

Nor was it an attempt on his life.

Sure he'd been hurt badly, but Ash knew the man's aim wasn't to kill him. Not yet, at least.

That was the scariest part of it all. Because of the shock that overtook him over seeing the man again, his recklessness, the man could've easily finished him off right then and there.

If the man had wanted him dead at that moment, then he would've been, no doubt about it. Ash was still beating himself up about this and swore that he would never let something like that happen again.

After having already been forced to explain his falsified story many times over, Ash was more than tired of doing so. Thankfully, Ash's snide tone caused the nurse to drop her smile and take the hint. It wasn't 10 seconds later she left the room, not speaking another word.

Ash sighed once again as she left the room before mumbling to himself, "But I've got someone watching me alright..."

After getting his arm fixed up in a sling, Ash was free to leave. His shoulder still housed fresh stitches and his body was filled with donated blood but all things considered, he was feeling okay. He just wanted to leave this damned hospital.

Ash wasted no time in escaping the building and beginning his trek toward home.

May and Dawn arrived at school early as always, so they could meet up with their friends before the first bell. Just before walking up the steps to the school's entrance, May noticed her group of friends and quickly pulled herself and Dawn out of their line of sight.

"May! What was that for?" Dawn asked harshly, annoyed at being pushed so aggressively.

"Sorry! It's just... I don't know what to do when we face them again." May said, looking back toward Paul.

"Oh...right. Are you sure have __no__ ideas?" Dawn sounded as if she was almost pleading, having realized the problem herself, "Paul said we can't talk about Ash or Gary anymore, and you've seen how angry he gets when people don't listen to him."

May shuddered at the thought of a furious Paul, "I know, and I don't plan to walk up to him and just start talking about them out of the blue; that's not what I'm worried about. What concerns me is the fact that there is no way I'll be able to just stand by and watch him harass them anymore."

"I know... I know..." Dawn pondered to herself, "I still remember what happened when you yelled at him last year. I don't even want to think about what he'd have done had we not been in public..."

It was true, on the day May defended the two outcasts from his prank, they saw a side of Paul that terrified them to their core. An even darker side of the boy. After he'd gotten over his embarrassment, he became absolutely furious about being yelled at in front of everyone and nearly lost his cool. He even went as far as threatening the brunette with bodily harm.

"I wish we could just get him out of our lives!" May exclaimed as she recalled the horrific memory, "If I didn't love Misty so much, I would've been gone a long time ago."

"I'm with you there. I just don't understand what everyone sees in him. He treats so many people like trash and yet, he's still one of the most popular people in the school. He even treats Barry and Kenny like absolute dirt and they're his best friends! God, I'll never understand people." Dawn sighed agitatedly.

A silence over came the two girls, but only for a few moments; they didn't have much time to be wasting.

"So... what do we do?" May asked, her voice small.

Dawn sighed, "Well... as much as I hate to say it, we just have to go with it. I mean... we don't really have a choice. We just have to go back to the way it was before."

"I guess you're right..." May agreed sadly, "But we need to get Misty and Paul to break up. He's changed her and I'm afraid that if we don't get her away from him soon, she'll be gone forever." Dawn nodded in agreement.

"Well, we better head up there. Start going back to the things things were!" Dawn spoke in mock excitement.

"Yeah...the way things were." May muttered to herself, having no confidence in her ability of actually being able to do so.

* * *

"May! Dawn! Over here!" Misty yelled at the girls as if they wouldn't be able to see her standing 20 feet in front of them.

May and Dawn made their way to the group and tried their best to put on a smile.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" May asked.

"Better now that you're here, beautiful." Kenny said with a wink and a sultry grin.

Both May and Dawn scoff-laughed at the boy's words. This was the wacky and flirty guy that May and Dawn actually enjoyed being around sometimes; It's a shame how he acted the majority of the time; he wa actually an okay guy sometimes.

"Nice try, Kenny." May said, obviously mocking him.

Kenny shrugged and smiled at the brunette. He was more than used to that response by now.

"So where were you two yesterday? Neither of you were answering your phones. When I couldn't reach either of you, I went over to your house, May, and you weren't there." Misty said, gaining the attention of the two other girls.

"Oh...um... why did you want to find us?" May inquired, attempting to dodge the question.

Misty responded with a smile, "I just wanted to hang out with my girls! It's been too long since we've had a day, just the three of us. Now, where were you?"

"The Library!" Both May and Dawn blurted out at the same time. They glanced at one another, giving the other a proud look.

"Yeah, we have test in government class today and we really have to get a good grade on it, so we decided to go to the library. And obviously, we had to turn off our phones while we were there." Dawn spoke quickly.

Misty easily accepted the story, but Paul looked on with skepticism. He felt that he had a pretty good read on when people were lying, and he couldn't tell completely if they were being honest or not. His indecision forced him to just let the inquisition go. It was most likely nothing anyway.

At that point, the group decided to start their trek towards the first class of the day, even though class wasn't due to start for another 5 minutes. It didn't take long for the group to make it Mrs. Kilnes' room; It'd been there homeroom class for the past 2 years after all.

When they arrived outside of the homeroom door, May watched as her group entered the class one by one. As she moved to enter herself, she was suddenly pulled aside somewhat roughly.

She let out a relieved breath when she realized the perpetrator was Barry. Making sure no one would notice, Barry pulled the girl around a few corners into the most secluded hallway in the school. There wasn't much there, just a pair of bathrooms that no one ever seemed to use and a glass door that lead outside. Again, this was rarely used. Also, old, extra tall lockers lined the hallway. They were never assigned to students, though janitors sometimes used them to store things, albeit rarely.

"How did everything go with Ash and Gary?" Barry asked quietly, obviously trying to rush the conversation.

May sighed in annoyance. She was trying to get her mind off of the topic, and Barry just had to bring it up again. Though, it wasn't as if the thoughts had managed to leave her mind in the first place...

Before responding, May dragged Barry even further into the hall, "There is something, but it's not going to help with the guilt you're feeling about this whole thing."

Barry took a deep, anticipatory breath and motioned for May to begin the story. May paraphrased all that had occurred the previous day, only leaving out what she felt were the more minor details.

As May spoke of the previous day's events, Barry's face visibly dropped. It was obvious he was feeling even more guilty for having been a part of bullying people like Ash and Gary. He'd always acted without thinking, and now that he was forced to do so, his whole perspective changed.

"And that's it. Unless Serena is able to do the impossible, there's no more that we can hope to learn at this point..." May ended sadly, recalling the promise she'd made.

"...Wow... I don't even know what to say right now. I-I feel... awful..." Barry spoke, his voice flooded with pain.

"Then do something about it! Stop Paul and Kenny from bullying them! If they stop, then so will everyone else!" May pleaded, hoping that Barry could be the key to solving this mess.

"I...I can't. I can't just go against Paul. He may not treat me well all the time, but he's still my best friend." Barry responded again. Though, May couldn't help but notice his voice was devoid of any and all confidence.

"Well then I don't know what to tell you. If you're too afraid to tell Paul that you want to stop hurting Ash and Gary, then there is nothing that I can do to help you." May spoke coldly, her words biting. She was obviously more than annoyed by her friend's cowardice.

Barry stared at the floor in shame. May was right, after all. His lack of action was completely due to fear. At this moment, he truly did feel like a coward

"Is that true Barry? Is that really what you want?"

...

...

Both Barry and May froze, their eyes widening in fear. They would know that deep, scratchy voice anywhere.

Paul.

"Barry, Barry, Barry." Paul taunted, making himself visible to the two, "So you want us to stop messing with our __friends__ _,_ eh? Haha...Well I'm sorry, but... that's just not going to happen."

Paul looked completely calm on the outside, but May and Barry knew the boy far too well to fall for his facade. They knew that in reality, he was fuming and when he was mad, there was no telling what he would do.

"And May, you obviously must have a problem with it as well. Even more so than last year, it seems." Paul's tone turned serious, evolving from the cold mocking one that accompanied his words previously "I thought I told you that we were not going to discuss those two again."

Paul walked slowly until he was just inches from May. He looked downward to meet her eyes, which he noticed were closed tightly in fear, "Why don't you ever listen, May? Huh?!"

May flinched, but remained silent as Paul's volume increased. In a split second, Paul turned to face Barry, his steely gaze never faltering. "Barry... I'm disappointed in you."

This was not good, and Barry knew it. He needed to try and calm him down before he snapped, "Paul, I'm sorry, it's just I've been feeling really guilty ever sin-"

"ENOUGH!" Paul exclaimed. May silently prayed that the boy's volume was enough to garner attention to the out-of-the-way hall. After a few moments, she realized her prayer had gone unanswered.

No one was coming...

Paul shifted, stopping when he was just inches from Barry. Aggressively, Paul grabbed him by the shirt collar and spoke, "You know how upset I get when people don't listen to me. You know that too well to be excused from this..."

Barry's eye grew wide at his friend's words. Surely he wouldn't-

 ** _*BAM*_**

The heavy fist that met his face cut off Barry's thought and betrayed his disbelief all at the same time.

Barry staggered backwards, surprised by the power behind the punch. Barry's fear grew as he realized his 'friend' would not be holding back.

Blood slowly flowed out of Barry's nostrils and his head was pounding. He raised a hand to his face, hoping somehow to alleviate the pain.

Paul didn't wast anytime before pushing Barry to the floor. He didn't provide much resistance as he was still stunned by the initial blow.

Before he focused his attention solely on the downed Barry, Paul looked towards May and spoke darkly, "You're next."

Even having known Paul for years, this was the first time that May had ever heard that tone of voice from him. Not even when she'd yelled it him in front of everyone had he sounded so terrifying. His voice was so dark, so cold, even for Paul. He was different when he was angry. When he was __truly__ angry.

Paul proceeded over to Barry's crumpled body and prompted to throw kick after kick into his stomach and head, repeatedly stealing the air from his lungs. Barry never had time to move, the only thing he could do was moan in pain and wheeze in futile attempts to regain his breath.

All May could do was watch, completely frozen in fear. She knew she should scream, get help, but for some reason, she couldn't move. She just watched Barry take the beating of his life, from the person he considered to be his best friends no less.

After a while, Paul seemed to be satisfied with the handling of his friend. He wasted no time in starting towards May.

May's eyes grew wide as Paul approached, her legs shaking like they never had before, her back against a row of large, janitorial lockers.

When Paul was just inches away from the girl, a sick, sadistic smile overtook his face, "You know...I never did like you very much. I only let you hang around with us because you were friends with Misty. The same goes for that blue haired bitch too. But honestly... I couldn't care less who your friends are right now...I've been wanting to do this for a long time."

Paul had obviously lost his mind at this point and May perfectly understood the danger she was in. It was as she had feared when Paul first appeared. He seemed to have no problem with hitting a girl.

Paul brought his fist back, fully prepared to launch an all out assault on May. All the brunette could do was put her hands up in some form of defense from the oncoming strike and close her eyes. With nothing else she could do, she anxiously awaited the oncoming pain...

…

…

But it never came.

Instead, May felt a push from her right, causing her to fall to the ground harshly, narrowly avoiding the fist. Ignoring the pain that came with hitting the floor with such force, May took this opportunity to curl up into a ball, too afraid to do anything else; all she could do was cower at this moment. Even in her worst nightmares, she had never imagined she would be in a situation like this.

The only sense that still seemed to be functioning was her hearing.

The first thing she heard was the locker she'd been standing in front of be slammed. It was obvious that the sound had come from Paul's fist meeting the unforgiving steel surface. She then heard a small shriek of pain from Paul followed by a voice that she couldn't quite recognize in her current state.

"That's enough, Paul." The voice was extremely forceful and stern.

May could feel a presence standing in front of her downed body, protecting her. She couldn't even begin to think who it was in her current state, but she was able to recognize that this person had come to help her.

"If you want to hit someone, then hit me." the voice spoke.

"Well you're just full of surprises, aren't you, Ketchum?" Paul questioned sarcastically to the newly revealed man, "This doesn't concern you. Now move out of the way and let me finish what I started."

Paul began walking towards May once again, only to be pushed back by the strong left arm of Ash. The raven haired man pushed Paul against the row of lockers with his one good arm and held him there tightly, his forearm across the slightly shorter man's neck.

Paul was struggling hard, finding it difficult to escape even with the use of his hands, the fact that his airway was being cut off slightly being the reason. He was shocked to say the least. Ash had never retaliated before, but it was obvious that he'd found something that he would not stand idly by for.

It was at this moment that May gathered enough courage to at least open her eyes to watch the scene unfold in front of her

"I can't let you do this, Paul. This is too far, even for you." Ash spat at Paul.

"Why should you care! Stop trying to play hero and leave me the hell alone!" Paul screamed violently; there was no way they hadn't drawn attention to themselves at that point.

It was only a matter of time before people would come to see what was happening, and Ash knew it. The problem was, there was nothing he could do about it. He'd have to find a way to deal with that when it happened.

"You know as well as I do that I can't do that." Ash was now speaking calmly, but he still held a deep forcefulness in his voice, "If you don't walk away, then this time, I won't hesitate to stop you."

Paul laughed obnoxiously. He'd stopped struggling and was now standing face to face with Ash, whom had released the boy's neck to better prepare himself should Paul not comply, "Someone like you, fighting someone like me? I've beaten the hell out of you for years! And you think you can hurt me?! That's rich!"

Ash stood confident, not backing down at all, "Is it? Because I heard that you saw first hand what I can do," Paul's smile fell immediately as he mentioned this, "I beat Gary pretty easily, and he's a much better fighter than you'll ever be."

"Damn straight!" Gary yelled enthusiastically, making his appearance know. He was currently kneeling down next to the wounded Barry, trying to help him recover.

"You're strong, I'll give you that, but you have no idea what you're doing." Ash added, serving to further anger the purple haired boy.

"I don't give a damn what we saw! I don't give a damn what you think! I could lay you out right here, right now! And I'm more than ready to do that!" Paul spat, trying to convince himself more than anybody else.

"Are you sure you want to take that chance?" Ash asked calmly.

As he'd suspected, the only response Ash received was a fist flying toward his face. He quickly ducked the punch and landed a hard retaliatory blow to Paul's midsection.

Paul immediately began wheezing for air and coughing. Clutching his stomach, he looked angrily back toward Ash.

"Not as easy as it usually is, huh?" Ash taunted.

He normally wouldn't do this, but Ash knew the only way that Paul would give up was if he either knocked him out cold, or tired him out enough. And obviously, one option was better than the other.

Paul was much too proud to walk away, even when he knew he was beaten; that was very clearly the vibe that he gave off. So, by Ash angering him further, he hoped Paul would keep attacking him, thus tiring him out and forcing him to retreat.

As soon as he recovered, Paul registered Ash's words, causing his anger to reach new heights. Immediately, he started randomly and quickly throwing punches at Ash. Most of his throws missed wildly, and the ones that did manage to hit were nothing more than glancing blows, causing next to no damage whatsoever.

Since his initial strike, Ash hadn't attempted to hit Paul again, instead opting to only dodge the flurry of attacks coming his way. This was exactly what he'd hoped would happen. Paul would do all the work for him, without him even having to raise another fist. He could read Paul like an open book.

Paul was obviously getting tired from throwing all of the wild punches and eventually, the exhaustion caught up to him causing him to suddenly stop. His breathing was rapid and you could see in his eyes that he knew he'd been bested, but wouldn't admit it.

"Whatever! You're lucky I'm too angry to focus! That's the only reason I can't hit you! I promise you, this isn't over! You better watch your back, Ketchum!" Paul yelled angrily before storming away.

Ash watched Paul until he was completely out of sight. Finally feeling safe, he let out a shaky breath he'd been holding. Regardless of everything he'd been through, confrontations like this still scared the hell out of him, he was just better than most at handling this fear.

Immediately after Paul was out of sight, his attention snapped to May. She'd just managed to sit up from her position on the ground, pulling her knees to her chest as she did. Seeing this, Ash crouched down to her level.

"May, are you alright?" Ash asked in a concerned tone, his voice soothing.

May looked at him for a moment, her expression near blank as hot tears formed in her eyes. It wasn't long before she lost control and tackled Ash in an embrace. She immediately began crying into the man's chest as he held her.

May was muttering incoherent phrases, causing Ash to speak again, "Shhh, it's okay. He's gone. You're okay, you're safe. I'm right here. I've got you."

Ash had begun stroking May's soft brown hair to sooth her. It was immensely comfortable to both parties, but May especially so. She felt extremely safe in his arms, especially after he'd just saved her. They stayed like this for a few moments longer, with Ash waiting until her sobs at least slowed.

"I thought we were going back to the way things were before all of this?" May teased through her tears, her cracking voice betraying her joke.

Hearing this, Ash couldn't help but chuckle softly. He could tell the fear was starting to leave her body, "Well, if you wouldn't go getting into trouble, we'd be able to do that, now wouldn't we?"

May giggled lightly. Slowly, she retracted her head from Ash's chest, turning serious and looking him in the eye. She was still slowly producing tears, but no where near as many as before.

"Thank you, Ash. Thank you so much." May spoke with incredible sincerity. She couldn't think of a time when she'd meant something more.

"No problem." Ash smiled slightly, leaving May smiling back. Acting on impulse alone, May planted a soft kiss on the man's cheek, a simple thank you for what he'd done.

Both blushed slightly, May at her forwardness and Ash at the act, before the two proceeded to stand up. All four people present could hear the pitter patter of feet coming toward them. This sobered everyone up very quickly.

Ash looked to Gary with a near panicked look, both boys trying to figure out what to do. There was no way they could make it out the door before whoever was coming would reach them. There was no time to hide...

And so they waited. Gary, Ash and May were all standing, leaving Barry still laying on the floor, doing his best to fight through the pain he was feeling.

They didn't have to wait long for Mrs. Kilnes to turn into the hallway, followed by almost the entirety of their homeroom class; obviously though, Paul wasn't present. When they first heard people approaching, neither Ash nor Gary imagined near this many would come...

As if mocking the fact that the entire class was together in the hallway, the bell rang, signifying what would be the start of the period. Ash couldn't help but roll his eyes at the irony.

Mrs. Kilnes' eye flew across the scene. Immediately, her gaze, as well as those of the other students, landed on the downed Barry. His face was already stating to swell slightly and both dried and fresh blood covered his face. He was also still noticeably struggling to regain his breath.

The shock and confusion that came along with the situation hit everyone at once. Quickly, Mrs. Kilnes' eyes rushed over to where Ash and Gary were standing.

Upon seeing the two boys, Mrs. Kilnes face contorted in pure anger and hatred, "What did you do...? What did you two do!?"

For some reason, this hadn't been what Ash or Gary had been expecting in terms of a reaction. They didn't think they were going to be blamed for the whole mess. Now, any ways they'd been thinking up to get out of the situation had been thrown out the window. The truth was not an option. Neither boy had any idea what to do...

Somehow, Gary managed to spit out words of defense, "Mrs. Kilnes, this may look bad, but I swear we had nothing to do with this!"

Mrs. Kilnes stared at Gary with contempt. Without saying a word, Mrs. Kilnes marched aggressively up to Gary, whom was expecting to be screamed at. Instead of words however, a resounding smack was what echoed through the hallway, followed closely by a collective gasp.

A teacher had just struck a student.

Gary reached a hand up to his face, in total shock at what'd just happened. His look was matched by nearly everyone present.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Gary Oak! I know you and Ketchum have problems with Barry, but you took it too far!" Mrs. Kilnes yelled before turning her attention to Barry, "I mean look at him! He can hardly breathe!"

"Mrs. Kilnes, I swear on my life that we did not hurt Barry!" Ash exclaimed, desperately hoping that she would believe him.

Mrs. Kilnes scrutinized him closely, "You think swearing on your sorry excuse for a life means anything!?"

Usually, when Mrs. Kilnes would take a jab at Ash or Gary, most of the class would laugh. But this time, there was no laughter. Only silence and shock.

This was too real.

Too far.

It didn't seem like a joke anymore.

She truly meant what she said.

Ash was actually taken aback by the comment. She'd said it with so much conviction, she obviously truly felt this way. Ash never thought he would hear a teacher, even Mrs. Kilnes, speak this way to a student. Despite having tough skin, that one actually managed to sting a bit.

"I'm calling the police. You'll finally be in jail where you two belong." Mrs. Kilnes spat venomously as she reached around her pockets for her cell phone.

Ash and Gary looked to each other, completely unsure of what to do. Even if they were to tell the truth, there was no way anyone would believe them. Fate had really screwed them over this time...

Mrs. Kilnes slowly dialed 911, no one making a peep as she did so. Just before she could press send, a new voice was heard.

"Wait!"

This entire time, May had been thinking of a way to get Ash and Gary out of the situation. The risk of telling the total truth was much too high, and she recognized that.

Chances were, no one would believe that Paul had been the one to do this to someone who was well known as one of his closest friends. To those who didn't know Paul very well, which was practically everyone, there was no way that they'd believe it.

Not only that, but once Paul found out that May had accused him of the crime, even though they both knew that he'd done it, he would surely be angry. Possibly even angrier than he'd been previously. And the next time he came after her, she might not be so lucky...

Once she heard Mrs. Kilnes threaten to call the police, she knew she had to think fast. She cast a quick glance toward Ash and Gary and could clearly see that they had no idea what to do.

She would have to be the one to save them this time around.

Mrs. Kilnes looked May's way for the first time. You could tell by the look on her face that she hadn't even noticed that she was here, that she was a part of this, up until this point. Everyone, even Mrs. Kilnes, was waiting to hear what she had to say.

May found Dawn in the crowd, using the sight of her best friend as a source of comfort in the troubling situation. The bluenette was just as confused as everybody else, but she still managed to give May a nod of encouragement. This was exactly what May needed.

"They're telling the truth! Ash and Gary didn't do this!" May exclaimed with all her might.

Mrs. Kilnes took a step back in surprise before recovering and shaking her head, "May Maple... I expected lies from them, but from you too? Why would you be lying for them? Did they...did they threaten you!?"

"No, they didn't threaten me! I'm not lying, and neither are Ash and Gary! Just let me explain!" May barked, almost commanding the teacher that stood in front of her. This was definitely not like her. May Maple, to anyone's knowledge, had never once acted out in school before. Not ever.

The older teacher couldn't believe what she was hearing. May had always been an exemplary student. Good grades. Perfect behavior. She was also well like by both students and staff. Maybe that was why she gave her the opportunity to try and explain.

Seeing her teacher nod hesitantly, May continued, "Obviously, someone attacked Barry. But it wasn't Gary or Ash. That, I swear on __my__ _l_ ife... Is that good enough, or is my life too 'sorry' for you as well?"

May couldn't help taking a jab at her teacher. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard something so cruel, and it angered her to her core. This was a teacher, someone meant to be supportive and understanding, and yet here she was, both physically and verbally abusing two of her students. If May had only tolerated her homeroom teacher before, she absolutely hated her now. Luckily, Mrs. Kilnes seemed to take it in passing and allowed May continue.

May thought quickly of the excuse she was going to make. With the constraint of time pressing forcefully down upon her, she decided to go with the only thing she could think of.

"Me and Barry heard something in this hallway, a voice. We followed the voice and when we arrived, a man in a mask jumped us from the bathroom. I have no idea why, but he just started hitting Barry, over and over again. He said he was going to hurt me next. I was too scared to move, to do anything..." May paused and pushed back the fear that made itself present in her mind at the fabricated memory.

Her excuse wasn't too far from the truth, it just left out the real perpetrator. Because of this, flashes of the real incident replayed in her mind.

"If that's the truth, then why aren't you hurt? And that still doesn't explain why those two are here." Mrs. Kilnes argued. She seemed intent on proving that Ash and Gary were the one's who'd done this, no matter what.

The rest of the students watched and listened intently, each making their own assumptions. Even so, no one dared to move or speak until this whole thing was over and done with.

"Yes it does!" May was starting to become frustrated. Why couldn't she just believe her? "It explains it because Ash is the one who saved me!"

A collective gasp was heard throughout the students. Ash Ketchum, the cold hearted, isolated jerk had risked himself to save somebody? Almost no one was sure that they could believe it. It didn't seem even the slightest bit feasible. But on the other hand, May was the one who'd made this revelation, and no one knew of her to lie...

Both Ash and Gary made sure to keep straight faces, but May's revelation surprised and concerned them both immensely. This was definitely not something they wanted to reveal to everyone. But it was too late for that now, and they couldn't really blame May for saying it. There wasn't any other way either boy could think of to explain what'd happened.

As all eyes flew to Ash, the fact that his right arm was in a sling being recognized for the first time.

Mrs. Kilnes stared at Ash incredulously, "Okay...now I know for a fact that you're lying Ms. Maple. There is no way that Ash would be able to fight off an attacker, especially with his arm in a sling."

"But Gary was here too! It was two against one, it's not hard to believe!" May nearly screamed. God, this woman was frustrating to deal with.

While most of the students weren't entirely sure what to think, Mrs. Kilnes seemed completely convinced, regardless of anything, that Ash and Gary were guilty. It was as if she __wanted__ them to have done this.

Having made up her mind, Mrs. Kilnes shook her head and reached back for her phone, again planning on calling the police. May had to force herself not to shout in frustration. Why wasn't her story enough to convince her?

"It's true. May's being completely honest." A new voice appeared, originating from the woman's bathroom, where a familiar honey blonde haired girl finally made her presence known.

"Serena?" One of the students asked, "What are you doing? How long have you been there?"

Serena looked to everyone in the room, stopping her eyes when they landed on Ash. His face was near stoic, but for once his eyes made it easy to tell what he was feeling. Worried... Confused...

Grateful...

"I saw everything. I use these doors every once in a while, especially when I'm running late, and I watched the whole thing happen from the bathroom. A man really did attack May and Barry. Ash really did save May from being hurt. And Ash and Gary managed to get the man to flee. He even ran right past me through the doors. I hid in the bathroom because I was scared that the man would hurt me too. Does that answer your questions?" Serena explained, her face straight and serious.

"Not you too Ms. Yvonne? You can't seriously expect me to believe two people like Ash and Gary did something like that. Neither of them have a selfless bone in their body! They're bad people!" Mrs. Kilnes replied, her tone bordering on aggressive.

Mrs. Kilnes was growing increasingly frustrated. For some reason, she truly despised Ash and Gary, more so than any other teacher or authority figure. Both Ash and Gary knew they weren't exactly easy students to like, but Mrs. Kilnes seemed to truly hate them. For what reason however, they weren't sure.

Both Ash and Gary watched the back and forth in complete silence. It was a strange feeling being talked about as if they weren't standing right in front of them.

"That's not true..." The eyes of everyone ran across the hall as the watched Barry slowly limp closer to the action. He was breathing somewhat normally again, but it was clear to tell that he was still in a great deal of pain. Though, the fact that he was on his feet again was a good sign.

Even in the state he was in, Barry still understood that this was a chance. A chance for him to redeem himself and maybe even alleviate some of the guilt that was hurting him at least as much as his physical injuries. He had something to say, something that he __thought__ would help Ash and Gary.

"If Ash was a bad person...if he wasn't selfless... then why would he have risked his life to save Rosa yesterday?"

Once again, shock completely overtook everyone present. Though, some had different reasons for this than others.

Upon hearing her friend's words, May gave herself the mental scolding of a lifetime. Even with how Barry seemed to feel about the whole situation, May still wasn't inclined to tell him __everything__ that they'd discovered. She'd told him to keep this between himself, May and Dawn, but he hadn't been told explicitly that no one, under any circumstances, could know the truth. That sharing just one piece of information could potentially destroy what Ash and Gary had been doing most of their lives. May couldn't help but feel like this was partially her fault.

Gary couldn't even bring himself to hide his shock. The whole situation with May and Dawn was one thing, but this was massive. He couldn't recall a time when he'd been more nervous. Quickly, he looked to Ash, worried as to how he was taking this whole thing.

Ash's mouth hung open and his eyes were wide. His heart rate was through the roof. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He couldn't speak. All he could do was stand in shock and major, __major__ concern.

No one was more surprised, however, than Rosa herself. She'd been in the crowd of students, watching everything happen when suddenly, this bomb was dropped upon her. She literally couldn't believe it. She didn't believe it. At least, not entirely.

"Th-that's not possible. There's no way it was him who saved me. No way!" Rosa exclaimed. Her conflicting thoughts were causing her mouth to move on its own.

When she thought about it, it just didn't make sense. She'd bullied Ash multiple times in the past, so why would he do something so dangerous just to help her?

Barry, who hadn't seemed to notice that he'd done anything wrong, continued, "Then why is his arm in a sling? You said the person who saved you sounded hurt, right? Well, Ash __was__ hurt... while saving you. He was stabbed in the shoulder while trying to make sure you'd be safe"

Ash's body moved on its own, slowly but surely, behind Barry. He then whispered aggressively "Barry. Shut. Up."

Barry was slightly confused as to why Ash was angry. He knew Ash liked to keep to himself, but he thought this revelation would be beneficial to the situation. Plus, sharing this information would surely help get out of the situation they were currently in. Despite that, Ash's tone told him that he should listen. That he shouldn't have said anything and should say nothing more.

Even Mrs. Kilnes had nothing to say at the revelation. She'd known about what'd occurred. All of the teachers had been notified so that they would be sure to keep an extra close eye on Rosa throughout the day. Plus, the story had completely spread throughout the student body as well.

Could the boy in front of her, the cold, distant, troublemaker really have done something so...heroic? For the first time today, she actually wasn't completely sure...

The hall went silent for a few moments, no one quite knowing what to say. Not only that, but everyone was trying to process what they'd just heard. After a short while, Rosa slowly pushed her way through the small crowed and approached Ash.

Ash watched the brunette approach, knowing he had to work carefully. He kept telling himself that he could fix this, and maybe he could, but for the first time in a while, he wasn't totally confident in his ability to do so. He watched as Rosa made her way to him. The brunette paused just a few feet away.

Rosa tried her hardest to remember what she'd seen before she passed out, even closing her eyes momentarily to do so. After a few moments of silent thinking, picturing the scene, Rosa opened her eyes and studied Ash.

Her eyes first went to his arm in the sling. The man who'd saved her was most certainly hurt and conveniently, so was Ash. If he really was stabbed, then she wouldn't be able to see the wound without him removing his shirt. She gave up on this clue for the time being, seeing as she wasn't going to just ask him to take his shirt off right here and now.

Then, Rosa's eyes went up to his face. She studied it carefully, closely for a while. Ash was slightly uncomfortable with the girl staring at him for so long, especially since there was another whole crowd watching the scene.

Slowly but surely, things began to fall together. Piece by piece, the scene was recreated. This was the reason Rosa felt that she'd seen her savior before...

Suddenly, something sparked in Rosa's brain, causing her eyes widened. Slowly and shakily, she brought her hand up to cover her mouth, her eyes beginning to water. Remembering what she could, putting all the pieces together, she was sure now.

It __was__ Ash Ketchum who'd saved her.

As the scene went on, capturing the undivided attention of the gaggle of students, May slid closer to Barry.

"Barry, just tell Mrs. Kilnes that we're telling the truth about the whole thing. Coming from you, that should convince her. For all they know, you hate Ash and Gary." May whispered to the blond, who nodded in response.

"Mrs. Kilnes, May and Serena are both telling the truth. Some man in a mask attacked me, and Ash and Gary showed up just in time to save May from being hurt." Barry spoke in the most confident voice he could. His words drew most all eyes to him.

 _ _Most__ eyes.

Ash and Rosa still had their eyes locked, both unmoving, unknowing of what to do next.

Ash immediately noticed that she'd recognized him, her reaction told him that clear as day. He knew he had to work fast, while Barry's speech was drawing attention away from him.

As all eyes left him, as quickly as he could, Ash leaned in and whispered in Rosa's ear, "Yes, I was the person who saved you. All I ask for in return is for you to tell everybody that it wasn't me and keep it a secret. Don't question why, just do it."

Immediately after he finished speaking, Ash pulled back and got back into the position he was in before he moved. His words and actions left Rosa more than a little confused, but he had saved her, she could do this one thing for him, even if she didn't understand his reasoning for it.

"Barry, we can talk about that in a second." Mrs. Kilnes answered before turning her attention back to Rosa and Ash. Luckily, Ash had managed to say what he needed to and return to his previous position without being seen.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, Rosa turned around, "I thought, for just a second that maybe... it __was__ Ash who'd saved me. But looking closely, I can say with confidence that it...that it wasn't him."

Rosa sold her part well, save for the emotion she couldn't hide from her voice. This wasn't a problem however, as it could simply be written off as her being emotional about not finding the person who'd saved her.

Mrs. Kilnes and a few of the students immediately believed Rosa's story; the alternative just made no sense in their minds. However, the majority of people were still unsure of what to believe. Ash was hurt, that much was undeniable. If they could just see the wounds, then they would know for sure. But, there was also the fact that Rosa herself had said it wasn't him who'd saved her, even if her cracking voice had been betraying her words. Conflicted thoughts were definitely the majority at the moment.

"I didn't think so. That's too ridiculous to even pretend to be true." Misty stated, speaking for the first time. This earned a nod in agreement from Mrs. Kilnes and the other students who immediately believed Rosa's words.

Since speaking, Rosa had quietly moved to the side of the small crowd, her eyes never once leaving Ash, even after she stopped moving. It was so hard to believe that Ash Ketchum of all people had saved her life. That must mean that they other person she heard had to have been Gary...

All at once, guilt flushed throughout her body. She'd bullied the boys on more than one occasion and constantly made fun of them, but they'd still risked their lives to save her. Ash even got seriously injured in the process.

 _"_ _ _Why...Why did he do that for me...?"__ Rosa thought as a lone tear ran down her face, her eyes still locked on the raven haired boy.

Rosa was concentrating so deeply on Ash that she hadn't even noticed her best friend, Bianca, come up beside her.

"...Are you alright...?" Bianca questioned softly, knowing her friend was fragile at the moment. Receiving no response, she continued, "I know it's hard, you thought you might have found the man who saved you, but you'll find him someday. I'm sure of it."

Rosa's eyes quickly filled up with tears, causing Bianca to pull her into a hug. It was all too much for Rosa to handle. She already __had__ found who the man was, and it just made things confusing. Rosa would definitely have to spend some time thinking about this revelation.

"Okay, now we can return to the real issue here. I think we can all agree that Ash and Gary are guilty in all of this?" Mrs. Kilnes asked the masses. For some odd reason, she'd been expecting an immediate, unanimous response, but silence was all that she received.

That is, until a tall, tanned boy named Brock Harrison stepped forward and spoke, "Mrs. Kilnes, three separate people, none of which are friends with Ash or Gary, have corroborated the story. I really think they're telling the truth."

Even though no one particularly liked Ash and Gary, they didn't want them to go to jail. Especially for something they didn't even do.

As soon as Brock finished speaking, Lyra stepped forward, "Plus, Barry hates Ash and Gary. If they were the people who did this, he'd definitely tell us."

Mrs. Kilnes sighed. She knew early on that she was most likely wrong in her assumption, but she despised these two boys and was really hoping that she'd be able to bust them here.

"Is that what you all think?" Mrs. Kilnes question in one last futile attempt to get her sick wish. She received back a series of "yes's" and head nods. Those that were indecisive on the matter decided to just remain silent.

Seeing that the overwhelming majority believed the story, Mrs. Kilnes sighed once again, "Fine...I believe you... You're not in trouble and I won't be calling the police."

May, Dawn, Barry and Serena all internally cheered. Ash and Gary would have done so as well, but they were both still trying to think of how to deal with what was to come because of this incident.

Now that the situation was resolved, at least, for the time being, Mrs. Kilnes' mind finally cleared, allowing her to think back to what she'd done earlier. As she recalled a certain action in particular, her heart rate increase and her eyes widened in fear.

Slowly, the teacher approached Gary and Ash. It was odd to see her acting so timid as she was normally very commanding, even despite her small stature.

"Mr. Oak," Mrs Kilne's started formally, something she had never done for Ash or Gary in the past, "I assume we can forget about that little 'incident' earlier."

Seeing a chance at something, Gary responded, "I don't know Mrs. K, I think you left a mark. Maybe _we_ should be the one's calling the cops. That is assault you know?"

"Oh, there's no need for that!" Mrs. Kilnes responded nervously, before turning deadly serious, her volume lowering to a whisper, "What do I have to do for you to keep your mouth shut?"

"Just let us leave. Barry needs to get to a hospital and there are a lot of things me and my friend here need to talk about." Gary set his demands. Ash shot his friend an approving look, glad that they were on the same page.

"Okay, fine. Go ahead, I'll keep my mouth shut about this whole thing. I'll make sure no one talks about it. No one has to know what happened." Mrs. Kilnes said before turning to face her class, "We are not to speak of this event after this. Serious issues for the school could arise if you do. Now, let's head back to the classroom."

Most everyone followed the teachers directions, especially after they'd seen how she acted when you're on her bad side. Even Kenny left with the class, not even bothering to check on his brother's wellbeing.

The only people who remained after the clear out were Gary, Ash, Barry, May, Dawn, and Serena.

"I swear, that woman becomes a bigger bitch every time I see her. I can't believe she actually hit me!" Gary commented, earning nods of agreement from those around him.

The students took a few moments to stand in silence, taking time to gather themselves after the more than stressful situation.

Now that the situation was resolved, May was beginning to feel the fear she'd been suppressing the whole time creep back up on her. Unconsciously, she scooted closer to Ash, to the point where they were nearly touching. After everything that'd happened, he just made her feel incredibly safe, and she needed that at the moment.

Seeing May scoot closer to him, Ash spoke appreciatively, "You really came through big with that story, May. Thank you for that."

Ash's kind words earned a bright smile from the lovely brunette. She even hugged his arm momentarily.

Dawn was still in the dark as to what actually happened, but she knew she should wait until later to ask. So instead, she focused her attention on Barry, who'd let slip something he definitely shouldn't have.

"Barry, you idiot! Why did you tell everyone it was Ash who saved Rosa!? We told you to keep it to yourself!" Dawn was more upset than she expected to be over the situation. She knew Ash and Gary didn't want this knowledge going around, so neither did she.

"I'm sorry! I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I thought that it would help convince Mrs. Kilnes that we were telling the truth!" Barry tried to defend himself as he'd now accepted he was somehow in the wrong. He would make sure not to say anything like that publicly ever again.

Dawn was getting ready to scold Barry again, but held her tongue when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw the hand belonged to Ash, with Gary right beside him. May had also followed, staying close to Ash; she still desired the feeling of safety and comfort more than anything at the moment.

"Barry, just forget about it. What's done is done, and it really did help convince everyone. How are you feeling?" Ash asked sincerely.

Barry was actually slightly taken aback by the kindness in Ash's voice. He had tormented him for years and now, he'd also released a major secret about him. He at least expected _some_ hostility from Ash and Gary.

"Well...my ribs hurt, but my nose is way worse." Barry stated whilst trying to touch his nose, only to pull away just when he made contact.

Gary stepped forward, closer to Barry, "Let me take a look."

Getting in closer confirmed what he'd already suspected, "Yeah, your nose is definitely broken. You need to get to a hospital so they can fix that up."

Not being able to hold in the question anymore, Barry spoke, "Why are you guys being so nice to me? I have been nothing but horrible to you since the day I first met you and I just revealed a massive secret when it's obvious that you didn't want me to. Honestly, I wouldn't blame either of you for beating me to a pulp right this second."

"Sure, you were an asshole, but I guess you were never really as bad as Paul or Kenny. And besides, a little birdie told us that you were feeling pretty guilty about all the things you've done." Gary responded while looking at May.

"Yeah Barry, that's all in the past. If you're willing to stop, then we're willing to forgive." Ash said with a half-smile.

Barry wasted no time in responding, "You have no idea the weight you just lifted off of my chest. The guilt has been eating me alive. Thank you so much and I'm so sorry for everything I have done to you."

"Forget about it." Gary turned his attention from Barry alone to everyone, "We really appreciate all of your help, but Barry needs to get to a doctor and we have to go."

"Go?" May asked quickly, grabbing ahold of Ash's arm and hugging it tightly. Right now, he was acting as her security blanket. The comfort Ash provided was helping her deal with what'd almost happened to her.

Ash looked down at May when she hugged his arm, but didn't protest, "We can't stay here any longer, it's too much of a risk. With what just happened, even what's going on right now, this whole thing might've just gotten a lot more dangerous. We also have _a lot_ to talk about. Plus, I'm not even supposed to be here. The only reason I came to school was because Gary needed me to drop off his half-assed English paper before class."

No one even bothered to ask Ash to elaborate on what he meant by 'dangerous situation'. This was one topic, they understood, he was not willing to speak about in detail. All they knew is that somehow, in some way, there was great danger involved.

As all of this was happening, Serena stood off to the side, simply staring at her old best friend. Now that the adrenaline that'd allowed her to speak on his behalf earlier had faded, she was beyond nervous. She still had to talk to him today, but she was frozen in place. She knew this definitely didn't seem like the best time for Ash, but she was determined to do it. She had to, lest she never try to do it again. If only she could move her feet... or her mouth...

"What are you going to do about Rosa?" Dawn asked Ash, whom breathed out a long breath in response.

Ash shook his head slowly before responding, "Nothing I really can do at the moment. I guess I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it."

Dawn nodded in acceptance of Ash's idea. He obviously had a lot going on at the moment, so it made sense.

"May, Dawn, can you guys make sure Barry gets to the hospital?" Gary asked the two girls, whom nodded in response. Of course this meant ditching school, which neither girl had done before, but today it definitely seemed more than okay to do so given the situation.

Slowly, Ash retracted his arms from May's grasp, missing the warmth she provided immediately. May's face dropped as soon as he pulled away. That only managed to remind her that they still couldn't be friends. That Ash and Gary still wouldn't let them in.

Ash then motioned for Gary to begin moving before turning around to walk out the door. Ash stopped in his tracks, however, when his eyes fell on the familiar blonde girl standing silently, staring back at him.

Serena's face showed many things. Joy, fear, hesitation, worry, all of which Ash could see clearly.

As the two were eye locked, everyone else looked on. Serena had been so silent after she defended May's story that they'd nearly forgotten she was there.

Ash was the first of the two to break their gaze. Quickly, he turned to face the others one more time, remembering there was something he should say.

"Just to be clear, this doesn't change anything. Things still need to return to the way they were. I know it sucks, but it has to be done, especially now." Ash spoke sternly, eliciting extremely sad looks from May and Dawn.

They knew this was the case, but actually hearing it said out loud crushed them inside. Especially May, after what he'd done for her that day. She just felt so safe, so comfortable around him. She wanted to feel that way all the time, but she knew that wasn't possible...

Ash's words also managed to drop Serena's confidence about their conversation even further. He'd only mentioned this after locking eyes with her. It was her presence, she concluded, that reminded him to say what he did.

As the two boys turned to leave, Ash made sure not to look at Serena again. Just seeing her brought back the painful memory of pushing her away.

Of making her cry...

Before he could change his mind, Ash charged through the door, followed close behind by Gary. Once they were out of the school, Ash slowly began the process of calming himself down. There was a lot to think about, now more than ever.

Having been ignored had hurt Serena deeply, even despite the fact that she knew this was the most likely scenario. She hadn't been expecting him to acknowledge her and yet, it still struck her to her core. She knew she would have to make the first move, but she was still frozen in place, much too afraid to confront Ash at the moment. This didn't go unnoticed by May nor Dawn.

Ash and Gary were already out of view when May decided to speak with Serena. Taking Barry to the hospital could wait for a moment.

"Serena, are you okay? You haven't said anything in a while." May questioned, waving a hand in front of Serena's face.

Now that Ash was out of sight, Serena felt the control of her body begin to return. As soon as she could, she turned her head toward May and Dawn, whom were right beside her, "I'm fine. Just a lot going on up here." Serena pointed to her head.

Both girls nodded in understanding. There was more than enough running through their own minds to make any sane person go crazy. But even through all of that, May and Dawn remembered what Serena had vowed to do. They knew it wasn't exactly a great time, but this opportunity was too good to miss.

"Serena, why didn't you say anything? You just helped him out big time, he owes you." Dawn inquired.

Serena let out a long breath, "I-I don't know. I just- I couldn't move. I couldn't say anything. I was so afraid of what he would say. And with everything that just happened..."

May nodded her head as Serena trailed off, "I understand how you feel, Serena. Believe me, I do. But you need to do this. You need to talk to him, offer him your friendship again, do something! Even if he rejects it, that's fine! At least then you can say you tried, right?"

Serena sighed sadly, her anxiousness evolving into depression, "We all know how the conversation is going to go. We know what he's going to say. What's the point in even trying if I already know I'm going to fail...?"

May's face hardened as she approached her newest friend. It only took a few steps for the girls to be face to face with one another.

"Serena, you need to do this for yourself. You've respected Ash's wishes for years, the least he can give you is one conversation. Obviously, Ash and Gary have a lot going on right now, most of which we don't understand whatsoever. But you used to be the best of friends, and you just helped him out of huge jam. The least he can do is talk to you." May finished, with Dawn nodding her head in agreement.

Serena knew May was right. For the longest time, she'd just wanted __something__ to happen, to change. Whether it be good or bad, it didn't matter. Obviously, one was more preferable than the other, but something just had to change. And confronting Ash again, despite her fears, was the only way that could happen.

Taking a deep breath, Serena responded, "I appreciate the help, you guys. You're right, I have to do this. Even if we all know how this is going to end up."

Serena chuckled sadly. Neither May nor Dawn argued with her, not that she'd expected them to. But even still, a bit of positivity from her two new friends would've been nice...

"Hey, you never know." Barry's voice was heard, drawing all eyes to him, "He might surprise you."

Barry was in increasing levels of pain as the adrenalin from the situation was beginning to wear off, but he was still able to add the bit of positivity that Serena needed. All three girls smiled his way, appreciating his input. Even though all three of the girls knew better, Barry's attempt to help really showed how he was changing as a person.

Serena nodded her head at the boy, "I've got to get going if I'm going to catch up to them. Wish me luck."

Serena finished as she dashed out of the doorway, leaving the three friends behind. Dawn, May and Barry stood side by side, watching the door close behind the blonde. Silently, all three wished her luck. It was a long shot, but if they couldn't break through the two boys' barrier completely, then maybe Serena could.

"Okay, can we get going now?" Barry started, his voice muffled by his agony, "I could really use something to help with the pain..."

Snapping out of their thoughts, both May and Dawn rushed to Barry's side and began helping out of the school. It wasn't a terribly long trek to the nearest hospital, but it would still take some time.

It didn't matter, the girls supposed.

There was a lot to talk about after all...

* * *

"I guess it's a good thing I forgot my english paper, huh?" Gary asked while grinning. After all of the things that'd occurred, Gary was desperately trying to lighten the mood. It was a nice gesture, the only problem was that with this often came a selective memory for Gary.

Ash responded with silence as he continued walking ahead, his gaze never leaving the land in front of him.

"Ash, what is wrong with you? You should be ecstatic right now! You just saved May and you got to hit Paul. Aw man I bet that felt awe-" Gary was cut off by Ash as he walked in front of him, facing him and stopping the man in his tracks.

"What happened back there..." Ash spoke seriously, pointing in the direction of the school, "Is nothing to be happy about. How could you have already forgotten the rest of what happened?"

Upon being reminded of the situation, Gary's mood instantly dropped. Ash noticed that he'd realized his mistake, but he wanted to make himself clear.

"Gary, we just had to stop a person from not only hitting a girl, but also from causing serious injury to his __best__ _friend_. Imagine what would have happened if we showed up just a minute later. May would have been hurt, and there is no telling what Paul would have done."

"I got no pleasure from hitting Paul. Hell, I didn't even see that person back there as Paul." Ash turned away from his friend and hung his head, "I only did what had to be done. I was hoping allowing Paul to take his anger out on us would be enough to stop it from expanding onto others, but it seems that the new information about us has got him spiraling out of control. He's dangerous Gary, and we have to make sure to be on the lookout for him in the future."

He turned back around to face Gary in time to see his friend nod in agreement. Ash's thoughts had got Gary thinking about everything going on at this time. How could this much chaos be happing in such a short amount of time?

"I'm sorry, Ash. You know how I get." Gary apologized, "I mean, there's so much more than even that. Our entire class has an idea of what happened, and Rosa knows that it was you who saved her."

Ash cringed slightly at the reminder. Now Rosa was just another person they had to worry about. And as he thought back, Ash realized that Rosa wasn't the only new face around...

Serena.

Seeing her back at the school, standing up for himself and Gary, shocked Ash to say the least. He hadn't said a word to Serena since that day back in middle school. The day when she swore to help him, even if that meant staying away from him.

"Ash?" Gary questioned, waving a hand in front of his friend's face; he'd been spacing out, "You okay?"

Ash shook out of his thoughts, and nodded, "Yeah, just a little-"

Ash paused his sentence as he saw the blonde who'd been occupying his thoughts come running toward them from over Gary's shoulder.

Confused as to why he'd stopped speaking, Gary turned in an attempt to see what'd captured Ash's attention. Immediately, his eyes locked on Serena, who was quickly gaining on the two motionless men.

Ash was screaming inside. The second he laid eyes on Serena, he knew that there was something she wanted. And just as he'd feared, here she was, quickly approaching them.

Serena reached the two boys quickly, only stopping to catch her breath when she was directly in front of Ash and Gary.

"Ash..." Serena squeaked out.

Gary looked to his friend, hoping to see how he would react to Serena's sudden arrival and obvious desire to talk. Ash had told him about their history a number of times, so Gary was curious as to how he would handle this.

As he turned his head, Gary realized that Ash had already started walking away. It didn't come as a shock to Gary; he'd guessed there was a 50/50 chance that this would be his reaction. Wasting no time, he followed Ash's lead, ignoring Serena and walking away.

Again, a pang of sadness ran through Serena's body. She knew he had a reason for keeping her away, but seeing him react like this still hurt her to her core. Despite this, she didn't plan on giving up. Not after everything she'd recently discovered.

Serena followed the two boys as they walked away, "Ash, please stop..."

As Serena expected, no response came from Ash or Gary.

"Gary, will _you_ listen to meat least?" Serena questioned desperately. Every time she was ignored, the pain in her chest continued to grow.

Serena could feel hot tears forming in her eyes as she continued after the boys, "Ash, please...just talk to me for one second."

Upon receiving no response once again, her desperation overtook her body. Serena rushed forward and with a surprising amount of strength, pulled on Ash's good shoulder, causing him to turn slightly.

"Please, Ash...just one conversation... That's all I need..." Serena pleaded, trying to sound strong. Though, her voice was being betrayed slightly by the emotion that was overtaking it.

Serena's act had forced the two boys to halt their movement. Ash even allowed Serena to turn him around completely, though he still wasn't looking at her, his face emotionless.

Seeing his expression, Serena's flood gates released, "Look at me, Ash! Please! Talk to me! I know what I said all those years ago, but I need you to say something!"

Ash tried his best to ignore Serena's tears. Making Serena cry all those years ago had been one of the things he regretted most, even if there was nothing he could do about it. Seeing people cry had always been something that hurt Ash deeply, especially people he cared about, so he was having a hard time not reacting to his old best friend doing just that.

Gary could only stand and watch the two. Even though he didn't know Serena very well, her cascading tears still struck a chord deep within him. Not only that, but seeing Ash struggling not to react was serving to hurt him further. Why could nothing ever be easy for them...?

"I know I promised that I would stay away, but I've learned so much these past couple of days. Dawn and May told me everything. I thought you were gone Ash... I know you said you had a reason for what you were doing, but it was just so hard to accept..." Serena tried to smile through her tears, "But now I know that you're still in there. You're still __you__ , Ash. So please, just talk to me, just this once..."

Serena waited 10 seconds for an answer. Then 20. Then 30.

When no response came, any confidence Serena'd held before this moment died. She then lowered her head and sobbed quietly.

No one moved for a while. Gary was mostly mulling over the fact that May and Dawn had told Serena what they knew. Ash on the other hand, was struggling with his own emotions. He had a hard enough time dealing with the fact that he was the cause of Serena's tears all those years ago. This was just adding to that familiar pain.

Ash sighed internally before deciding what to do...

Serena was lost in her own despair. Despite the fact she knew that this confrontation was more than likely going to end this way, actually seeing it happen nearly broke her completely. There was so much confusion, frustration and sadness rushing through Serena that she didn't know how she could take it much longer. It was almost as if time had stopped just to allow her to wallow in despair...

That is, until she felt a hand under her chin, lifting her face upward.

Serena glanced upward, seeing Ash's familiar brown eyes locked onto her. Her mouth went agape as Ash wiped away a few loose tears with his thumb.

"Follow me. We'll talk...just, please... no more crying." Ash did his best to hide the pain in his voice, but he knew he'd failed.

Gary knew this wasn't a good idea. Hell, even Ash did. But it couldn't be helped. With everything they once knew crumbling around them, it was becoming difficult to distinguish what they could or couldn't do, what was right and what was wrong. Despite the complete and utter confusion caused by the jumbled mess he called his life, Ash knew one thing for sure.

He couldn't stand to see anybody cry, not anymore.

Especially not Serena.

And so they began walking once again, all three of them, hoping to find somewhere hidden enough to rationalize what they were doing.

What could very well be a huge mistake.

* * *

 **A/N: Bam! Chapter 6! Paul has officially lost his mind! The class knows more about Ash and Gary than the boys would like and then some! Serena is finally confronting Ash again after all these years! SO MUCH IS GOING ON!**

 **Also, Mrs Kilnes obviously hates Ash and Gary more than the other teachers, and I will say right now that there is a reason for this, it just hasn't been revealed yet ;)**

 **Sorry this took so long to come out. I just started college (university for my non-American friends) and that has been a big adjustment. Not only that, but I have also started practices and training for baseball. However, as I better get adjusted to living in a dorm away from home and dealing with classes and college baseball, updates will return to relative normalcy, including updates for, "A Trial of Will" and not just this story.**

 **And again, be sure to check out "The Blue Spirit" By: silentplayermc03. It really is a great story and is fleshing out amazingly well. It is one of the stories I most look forward to see updates from so please, go show him some love and tell him I sent you if this is the first you're hearing about it!**

 **I hope you're all looking forward to next chapter. A lot is going to happen and change in the next three chapters or so, so please stick around. Please hit me up with a review, and a follow if you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **See Ya!**


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